41 DxD: Weaving Threads 7.5
Atsuko, Yua, Tara, and I are in my training room and are both dressed in our full gear. In addition, Atsuko has one of my Student's Pendants on, mostly so it's ready to pull her back here if her health drops too low. Half the other enchantments she already has.
Yua and Tara are also in enchanted gear that I made for them, and I've taught Tara [Void Sight], [Void Travel], and [Fade] using [Mentor]. Her Affection had shot up to 46 when I had done so, for making her stronger, and I used a heart crystal to push that to 56.
Perk rewarded for 50 Affection with Tara
[Arachno-Friend] - Increases Affection gain with spiders by 20%
"Before we do this, let me go over it one more time, because without a doubt this is a risky situation," I tell Atsuko and she nods. "I have an item that will bring me to a place that is like my training dungeons, but also not like them." I have a few actually, I had gotten one when Asia and I had cleared the hard mode vampire dungeon.
"Once we enter we can't leave until we clear it. There's no way of telling how hard it will be. It could be super easy, or it could be super dangerous, or anywhere in between." I don't think it'll actually be too dangerous. My mobility and skills make it so I'm confident I can make sure we at least survive any situation. I've stocked up on all sorts of potions too, just in case.
"So we're going to be going in completely blind?" she asks.
"Maybe," I reply. "But there is an upside. Due to reasons that would take too long to explain right now, I might be able to recognize where we are. If I do recognize it I'll likely also know a lot of information about it, so I'll be able to shed some light on what to expect."
"But only after we get there," Atsuko says.
"Yeah," I confirm. "Right now it's a complete mystery. But if we're lucky it'll offer you enough of a challenge to push you past that wall."
"And if it doesn't?" she asks.
"I have backup ideas," I answer, and she nods.
She hefts her ax, the red and gold Scindo Prime that I enchanted for her. "In that case, I'm ready when you are."
In response, I take out a Special Dungeon Key. I have no idea which one it is, they all went into the same stack in my inventory. I don't think it matters. But I am surprised to find it's an actual key, an old-fashioned brass one. I take Atsuko's hand and I turn the key in midair.
I half expect a door to open, but instead, the two of us disappear and reappear somewhere else, even smoother than [Void Travel]. It's a little disconcerting, especially since we went from the large concrete room of my training room to what can only be described as a ruined city.
"Holy shit," Atsuko murmured. "Do you recognize this place?"
"Not immediately, it's a little too generic," I reply. "Lots of places could have a ruined city. Let me look around for signs or something."
I cast around with [Void Detect] and [Void Sight]. While I do, Atsuko raises her ax and looks around as well. She's a little nervous but also excited. Yua is just excited, two wands in her hand as she jumps around and looks at everything. Tara is also poking around, but she's being much more careful and hesitant about it.
I don't see much of any use though. The signs are in Japanese, which narrows it down a little but not much. But there aren't any enemies- no wait, there are a few a little outside of my range.
"Atsuko," I reply. "I haven't figured out where we are yet, but there are three monsters about 150 meters uh, let's call directly in front of us North, so they'd be to our North-West."
"I'm not going to remember which direction is north," Atsuko replies bluntly. "Ahead and to the left though, got it. Do you want me to get them?"
"Not yet, let me finish scouting," I reply. The monsters in question are...standing around talking? They seem to be intelligent, but each one is definitely not human. One is some sort of bird-reptile hybrid, another is just a giant mole, and the third looks like a trashcan with arms and legs.
I frown. Not a lot of places have monsters like that, but I'm having trouble remembering the ones that do. So I turn my attention back to the signs. This time I cast my sight to the edge of the city. The chances of finding a sign within the city that names it is low. But highways and city lines should have signs with the city name on them.
Sure enough, I find a road with a sign above it, and I curse when I read it.
'Welcome to Z-City'
"What is it?" Atsuko asks.
"I found out where we are," I reply. The world of One Punch Man. "Bad news is that how dangerous this place is can be hard to nail down. Some threats we might face just aren't threats. But there could potentially be some scary motherfuckers here."
I note that my [Void Sight] can't go very far beyond the city limits. And that's mostly because nothing exists there. There's a line drawn around the city that, as you approach it, the sky beyond seems to grow dark, and there's an impenetrable wall there, one that reminds me of the edges of the dungeons. So this is just a part of the One Punch Man world? A single city sliced off from the rest?
"Any good news?" she asks.
"We should be able to handle anything but the biggest threats so long as we're careful," I say. "Go ahead and start boosting though, go up to nine boosts."
"Got it," she replies as the gauntlet of the Boosted Gear appears on her hand. I keep looking around. For a dungeon, this place seems suspiciously sparse. But then I see something shoot into the air in the distance. I direct my sight to that part of the city and quickly find where all the monsters are. They're all swarming around a single figure who is fending them off.
"Atsuko, we need to go right now, there's someone still alive here," I reply and hold out my hand. She takes it without hesitation and after my familiar climb back onto me I [Void Travel] us to a nearby rooftop. "Atsuko, finish boosting and then start slaying monsters," I instruct her. "Yua stay close to me, focus on controlling the terrain. Tara, I want you to remain on my back and hold back, for now. We'll be moving quickly."
After they all nod in agreement I dive off the side of the building, [Void Beam] lancing out to cut swathes of monsters in half as I fall. I take a moment to look closer at the figure and realize who it is. Tatsumaki, the Tornado of Terror, the most powerful telekinetic I've ever seen. I watch as she waves her hand and a ring of force cuts through the majority of the monsters around her. Maybe I didn't need to come rushing in to help her?
No, looking closer I can see bags under her eyes, and her clothes are practically non-existent. I can clearly see her ribs, and she's trembling. How long has she been fighting like this to end up in that state?
I take the chance to spam [Void Collapse] a dozen times. Their force pulls in monsters which only increase their size, and entire sections of the monster army are eradicated. Some of the bigger ones resist the pull and look up at me with bloodlust.
I hit the ground with a loud crack as the already ruined pavement is further reduced to rubble, but I don't stay there for long. Arc-Light crackles over my body and I leap at the nearest threat before it can react, my hands covered in darkness as I use [Void Drain] to steal the monster's HP and MP.
A few seconds later Atsuko comes crashing down with an even louder sound, her ax splitting another monster in half.
Between the three of us, the horde of monsters is reduced to nothing in less than a minute. Tatsumaki notices us during the fight, of course, I see her look at us warily, but she smoothly transitions to fighting as a group. She's not a professional hero for nothing.
It's only when the last monster is slain that she turns her attention to us. "Who are you? How did you get here?" she asks sharply.
I raise my hands in surrender. "We're not monsters, we're people," I say. "The how is a little more complicated, but I'm Axton and this is Atsuko." I look over at Atsuko who is definitely not paying attention to anything that's being said and is checking out the near-naked Tatsumaki. "The kitten and the spider are my familiars, Yua and Tara." The two of them wave at Tatsumaki, causing her to narrow her eyes slightly at them.
First Impressions Perk Activated
+25 Affection with Tatsumaki
Good, 25 Affection right off the bat should help. She's still looking at us suspiciously, but not nearly as much as she was before.
"I'd be glad to answer how, but that's a longer answer. Maybe we should go somewhere not covered in monster blood and guts?" I propose.
"They'll fade away in a few minutes anyway, but fine," she says as green energy encompasses my body and I feel myself being lifted along with my familiars. "I'm bringing us there though, to a place of my choosing."
I nod. "That's fine with me, we just got here." I look over at Atsuko, who doesn't really seem to care that she's been telekinetically picked up and is just continuing to ogle Tatsumaki. Not that I can really blame her. Despite her short stature, Tatsumaki has the figure of a beautiful woman, and I've been abusing [Void Sight] to get a good look myself.
We don't travel far. She brings us to a building a street over that's mostly intact. She carefully lowers us into the hole in the roof before releasing us from her power. We're in what looks like the hallway of an apartment complex, with rows of homes stacked together.
"This way," she says, floating down the hallway. We dutifully follow her down the hall, down a flight of stairs, down another hall, and then into a room.
It's obvious at first glance that this is her home. There's not much, but it's cleaner than the other rooms, and it looks more lived-in than ruined.
"I have a spare set of clothes, if you want them," I offer.
"I don't really care," Tatsumaki says. "I lost my modesty a long time ago."
"Well I don't really mind, but the offer is open," I reply with a shrug. "But that does bring me to my first question. How long have you been here?"
She narrows her eyes at me. "What do you mean 'here'? And I'm the one with the questions!"
I raise my hands again. "I have some answers, but I'm missing some pieces. Help me fill in a couple blanks and I should be able to explain it better."
She glares at me for a moment longer before sighing and looking away. "I don't know how long I've been here, not for sure. The sun doesn't move in the sky, and none of the clocks still work. The waves of monsters come once every hour though, and it took me a long time before I started tracking them. But it's been at least 18 months."
Holy shit that was a long time. "When do you sleep?" Atsuko asks.
She shrugs. "There's an hour between every wave of monsters. I wipe them out in a few minutes and spend the rest of the time eating, sleeping, or preparing."
"So, full disclosure, I know who you are and I know how powerful you are," I start. "And I have to ask. Is there a reason you haven't flattened this entire city and turned it into a blender?"
She glares at me again. "Your questions really piss me off. Fine, let me explain. I responded to a Dragon Level threat in Z-City. There were a few other A-rank and B-rank heroes that responded, but they were weaklings and they got killed by the swarm of monsters that came out from underground. Before I managed to kill them all something went...wrong."
I think I was starting to piece things together and I open my mouth to ask a question, but Tatsumaki glares at me and I close my mouth again. It can wait.
"I lost connection to the Hero Association and I couldn't break buildings or anything anymore," she continues. "I could do surface-level damage, but a couple inches into anything was indestructible. More than that, I couldn't escape from the city. The world just ends outside the city borders and I couldn't break through."
She looks away. "While I was trying to get out, most of the remaining heroes died from the first wave of monsters. And since then I've been stuck here, fighting for my life and scavenging what I need. I'm starting to run out of food though." She turns back to me, fire in her eyes. "Now I want you to explain what you know, how you got here, and how do we get out?"
"I don't have all the answers, but I can tell you that you're trapped in a pocket dimension," I reply. "I don't know why, how, or who. But I can tell you that there are a bunch of these. One last question?" She glared at me, but didn't say no. "Do you recognize the name Saitama? Caped Baldy? Genos?"
"I've never heard of any of those people," she replies. "Why?"
I grimace. "Due to certain circumstances, I have knowledge of hundreds of different worlds. I know of yours as well, that's how I recognized you. But Saitama and Genos are important parts of your world. If they don't exist...then they probably got killed. Did an alien attack recently?"
"Do you mean the freak with the ship that bombed A-City?" she asked. "Yeah, he did. He spouted a lot of crap before I managed to tear him to pieces."
I sigh. "Then this is a timeline where they don't appear," I reply. "I can't say for certain, but if I had to guess…this timeline was doomed so it was grabbed and repurposed into one of these pocket spaces. The fact that you were caught inside was bad luck."
"A doomed timeline?" Tatsumaki asks, fists clenched. "Knowledge of a hundred worlds? What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Surely you've heard of the Multiverse Theory right?" I ask. She nods angrily. "Well, that's more or less correct. There are infinite worlds out there. I know of one that's very like yours, but Saitama was there to prevent the worst from happening. Without him...well, it happened."
"Bullshit, I'm still here!" Tatsumaki shouts. "There's nothing I can't handle!"
"Could you handle another 18 months of this?" I ask, causing her to pause.
She clicks her tongue and looks away. "And this Saitama guy could?"
"He probably would have punched his way out of the pocket dimension and back home within an hour most likely," I reply. That only seems to piss her off more though. "Look, I don't know that for certain though. It might have had nothing to do with that, I don't know why these places exist. Only that I can travel to them, sometimes, but I can't leave until I clear a certain condition."
"So you came here with your girlfriend to what? Sightsee?" she spits out.
"To train actually," I reply. "I didn't expect to find any people in one of these, though this is my first one like this, so I didn't have much info to work off of."
"Whatever, I don't care anymore," she says grumpily. "So, how do we get out?"
"Well, first off, 'getting out' doesn't mean you get to go home, I think," I say, causing her to glare at me again. "The only exit out of here would be back with us, and the world we're from is nothing like yours. I might be able to find a path to your homeworld at some point in the future, but I can't promise that I will."
"Fine whatever. I just want out of this hellhole," she agrees. This time I'm the suspicious one. She agreed to that far too easily. But I'll leave it for later.
"Second, I'm uh… I'm not completely sure?" I say. I can feel her anger rising and I raise my hands again. "I have a general idea. Most likely there's a boss monster we have to kill."
"What, like a fucking video game?" Tatsumaki scoffed.
"Yeah actually," Atsuko says. "They're normally kinda game-like."
Tatsumaki narrows her eyes. "I thought you said this was your first one."
I sigh. "I've been to places that are sort of similar, but they're artificial, they're not ripped from another world. And I can enter and leave them as I please, unlike this one that I can only enter once, I can't leave until I 'clear' it, and has an actual person in it that I recognize."
"So it's those other ones that are game-like," Tatsumaki clarifies.
"Yep!" Atsuko replies. "We use them to train!"
"Is your world dangerous, to need such training?" Tatsumaki asks.
"Not in the same way as yours," I reply. "There aren't any monster attacks and things are mostly at peace right now. But it's an uneasy peace, and the top players would at least rival you in strength. Hell, a few of them are probably stronger." Though that's only because her stats are so unbalanced.
Tatsumaki
Level: 3,403
Race: Human
HP: 2,960
MP: 727,200
SP: 1,120
CON: 148
STR: 56
DEX: 89
INT: 14,544
WIS: 8,547
CHA: 412
LUK: 101
They make sense though. She's an extremely powerful esper, but she's a mostly normal human outside of that. Which means she has by far the highest single stat I've seen, eclipsing even Sakuya's, but her level is lower than Grayfia. Though I've stopped putting much stock into levels.
She narrows her eyes at me. "Once again you're claiming to know how strong I am."
I chuckle. "Well, you could call me a fan I guess? I think you're badass, and I've always liked telekinesis. So seeing you in action, the most powerful telekinetic I've seen in any world, was really fun."
"In any world?" she asks, surprised. Then she shakes her head violently. "No, never mind, of course I'm the best. So let's go kill this boss or whatever."
"Actually, if I can make a suggestion?" I stop her. "I've got some good quality food I can give you, and we can take care of a few waves no problem. It would actually be good for our training. That way you can get a hot meal and a few hours of sleep. I don't know how strong the boss will be, and having you rested up in case it's too much for us would put me at ease." Her MP is only at a third of its max, but it's refilling fast enough that it'll be filled within a couple hours of rest.
I can feel equal levels of frustration and relief from her. "Fine," she grumbles. "It would be nice to sleep for more than thirty minutes I guess. Gimme that food you promised, and the clothes too."
I ignore the temptation to roll my eyes and just smile and hand her the Clean and Comfortable Outfit I got from the gacha a while back. Atsuko pouts as Tatsumaki dresses. My little pervert is so easy to read. Once Tatsumaki is dressed, I hand her a bunch of food I have in my inventory.
"I've never seen anything like that," she comments as she watches me pull things from thin air. "Is that technology, or an ability?"
"An ability of mine," I reply. "A sort of pocket space. Food stays hot inside it and as far as I can tell it has infinite space inside of it."
"Useful," she replies, but her attention is already on the food, the aroma of which is filling the room quickly. I can see her fingers twitch, but she holds herself back. I realize her pride won't let her devour the food like she craves to do.
"Why don't we give you some privacy? So you can eat and sleep. Atsuko and I will start preparing for the next wave outside."
"Whatever," Tatsumaki says. "Just do it around here, they always attack wherever I'm at."
"Sure thing," I reply. "Come on Atsuko."
"See ya in a bit!" Atsuko says as we leave. Once we're in the hallway she leans in towards me. "Axton, I'm so lost right now. I have no idea what's going on."
I chuckle. "Come on, let's get back to the rooftop, I'll explain there." I turn to my familiars. "You two start laying traps around the building. The next wave should be here in about forty minutes."
"Got it!" "Sure thing Papa!"
Once they're gone, the two of them having teleported to the street below, I teleport Atsuko and me to the top of the building and look down. Sure enough, I can see Tatsumaki hungrily devouring the food I left her, desperately shoving the food in her mouth. I look away, not wanting to intrude on a moment like that.
+12 Affection with Tatsumaki
For the first good food she's had in 18 months
I sit down on the edge of the roof, my legs dangling, and I pat the spot next to me. "Come and sit with me. We have time before the next wave. I'll tell you the story of this world."
She does just that, putting her ax in soul storage and sitting next to me, pressed up against me, and I began to tell her the story of a bald guy who just wanted to be a hero for fun.
-x-
Four waves of monsters and a lot of XP later, Tatsumaki wakes up and finds Atsuko and I cleaning up the remains of the last wave. Yua and Tara are resting, but Atsuko and I have stamina to spare. I almost wish she had remained sleeping longer, we've made terrific progress.
Axton
Level: 390
Class: Lightbearer(90/100)[12%]
HP: 121,500 (9,234 per second)
MP: 177,240 (15,243 per second)
SP: 138,540 (10,529 per second)
CON: 1925(2025)
STR: 2209(2309)
DEX: 2389(2489)
INT: 2432(2532)
WIS: 2313(2413)
CHA: 1401(1501)
LUK: 1878(1978)
[Shape Void-Light] - Level 13(57%)
Shape conjured Void-Light with your will
[Channel Void-Light] - Level 6(94%)
Channel Void-Light through your body or through an object
My own progress is mostly just in levels, but they're very appreciated. The two new skills are nice too, and I'm glad I was able to get them so quickly.
I'm not the only one who leveled up a ton though. Yua actually hit 250 partway into the third wave where she stopped again, hitting another level cap and earning me another stone to evolve her. I used it on her while we waited for the fourth wave and she changed into a race called 'Child of Bast'. She grew to be about four feet tall but otherwise looked pretty much the same as she did before, though she said that running on all fours was harder now.
Tara still needs a lot more XP before she evolves though. She blew past level 100 a long time ago and is now level 164. Still, her stats are much higher now and she's a lot more confident.
Atsuko also gained a lot of levels and is just one level shy of level 200. But she hasn't struggled yet. The enemies we've fought so far just aren't strong enough to push her to her limit. I'm hoping the boss will be different though.
Tatsumaki comes floating down. The bags under her eyes have lessened a bit, and she doesn't seem as quite on edge. "Your cat got bigger," she comments.
"Well, we did come here for training," I reply. "Yua had a breakthrough and was able to evolve. And I'm very proud of her. Even if I can't carry her as easily now."
"Jeez Papa," Yua comments. "I'm not a baby anymore, I can walk and fly and teleport just fine by myself."
I shake my head dramatically. "They grow up so fast you know? You need to cherish the moments that you have."
"Papaaaaaa," Yua complains in embarrassment. Atsuko smiles and Tara snickers, which is a strange sound for a spider to make.
"Whatever," Tatsumaki dismisses. "I'm rested up enough and ready to get out of here. Let's go before the next wave starts."
"About that, I'm not sure where to go," I reply.
"I do," she replies simply, somewhat devoid of emotion. "Where the monsters initially broke out. There's a set of doors that I could never get open or dig through or around. If there's a 'boss', it's past those doors."
I nod. That seems pretty likely. I'm also now understanding the point of the dungeon, to spend hours searching the city, periodically being attacked by monsters, with no clues on where to go. It's pretty brutal. Thankfully Tatsumaki is here to guide us.
"Then, by all means, lead the way," I tell her, and she nods. She flies off and Atsuko and I extend our own wings and follow her. Yua and Tara fly behind us, relying on the enchantments I put in their gear to do so. Tatsumaki gives us a strange look but doesn't stop or comment. Instead, she speeds up, making us work to keep up with her.
It only takes a few minutes to reach our destination, a massive hole in the ground that leads to a tunnel. So maybe not as hard to find as I thought. We take it slow as we travel down the tunnel, gently spiraling as we go.
"I thought you said you were humans," Tatsumaki comments as she looks at our wings. We're going slow enough that conversation isn't too much of a hassle.
"I said we were people," I correct. "We used to be humans until recently. I'm still mostly human, but I've modified myself to add in some other races. She's a human that's been turned into a Devil. Not as bad as it sounds, they're a human-like race in the world we came from, and she agreed to it after being asked."
"...your world is weird," she comments, causing me to laugh. She turns her attention back to where we're going. "This is it, we're here."
I had noticed it already with [Void Detect], and now I could see it with my own eyes. A massive set of iron doors a hundred feet tall stood in front of us. I could tell that the walls were all indestructible like the rest of the dungeon was. The only way through is to get it open.
"So we just gotta get those doors open?" Atsuko asks. "But how?"
"Something's happening," I say, drawing their attention to the door. It ripples like liquid, and a massive creature made of metal steps out of it. It's bipedal with massive arms and a faceless head and it's at least thirty feet tall.
"I AM THE GATEKEEPER," it bellows. "IF YOU SEEK THE MONSTER KING, YOU MUST FIRST DEFEAT ME."
Tatsumaki raises her hand, surely ready to crush it, but I raise a hand in front of her. She shoots me a glare but I ignore her and look at Atsuko.
"Atsuko?" I say, getting her attention. She looks at me, and she doesn't look concerned at all. Mostly ready to go and curious about what I want. "This one is all yours, okay?"
She grins, but her eyes grow determined rather than excited. "You think I can take him?"
"No idea, go find out," I reply. "We're not gonna back you up though. It's time to sink or swim."
"Got it," she says with a nod. "Hear that Ddraig? You ready?"
"Yes, partner! Show that creature the might of the Red Dragon Empress!" I hear Ddraig call out, and Atsuko rockets towards the metal golem, and they start to fight in earnest. The rest of us stand back a little, watching the fight.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Tatsumaki shouts at me as Atsuko's ax tears into the metal of the golem.
"Helping her grow," I reply casually.
"I thought she was your lover, you should be protecting her!" Tatsumaki continues.
"I can't be everywhere at once, and she wants to be strong," I reply, not letting my annoyance show. "She has amazing potential, but she's hit a wall recently. So she came to me and asked me to help push her past that wall. And it's not going to happen if I coddle her."
"Oh, so you just don't care if she's in danger then?" Tatsumaki snarls. "So long as she gets strong, it doesn't matter if she nearly dies doing it?"
"Shut the fuck up," I snap, surprising her. "Of course I care, but I already said it, didn't I? I can't be everywhere at once, and this was her choice. If I had my way this wouldn't be necessary. But there are storms coming, and she needs to be ready for whatever I can't handle."
"Then that just means you're not good enough," she fires back, not losing any of her anger. "You push yourself, not her."
"Yeah?" I say, my anger rising. "And how'd that work out with Fubuki?"
I'm not aware of any movement. One second I'm standing next to Tatsumaki, the next pain shoots through my entire body as I'm slammed into the wall by her telekinetic force. Shit, that took half my HP off.
-8 Affection with Tatsumaki
For touching a nerve
Tatsumaki floats towards me, murder in her eyes. I might have let my tongue get a little carried away. Atsuko hasn't noticed, she's still fighting. I can't move my body at all, all I can do is watch as she approaches me. Yua and Tara notice for certain. Thankfully they weren't perched on me. I mentally communicate to both of them, telling them not to worry and to not interfere. I don't think either of them likes it, but they trust me to handle it.
"Don't you dare say her name," Tatsumaki hisses. "You don't have the slightest idea of what you're talking about."
"Don't I?" I choke out, the pressure on my throat making it a little hard to speak. "Tornado of Terror, the overprotective big sister. How could she ever grow when you coddled her so much?" I'm probably not helping my situation by talking like this, but I figure that seeing it through will be better than trying to get out of it.
The pressure on me increases. "She didn't need to grow, she didn't need to be a hero in the first place!"
"How could she not, when she saw how amazing you were?" I ask. "An esper just like you, but never as good as you, not in anything. She was stuck in your shadow, and all she wanted was out of it."
"You- you don't know that!" Tatsumaki shouts, but she doesn't seem sure of herself. "You couldn't possibly know that!"
"I have 'knowledge of a hundred worlds', remember?" I ask. "Fubuki has an inferiority complex, and you're to blame."
"Shut. Up." She orders me through gritted teeth.
"Who knows, maybe without you being there to baby her, she might be kicking ass by now back in your world," I point out.
The wall next to me shatters and cracks as Tatsumaki's telekinesis slams into it. Tiny slivers of stone slam into my face from the force, and if I thought Tatsumaki was angry before, that was nothing compared to her face now.
For a moment, I fear that I fucked up, that my big mouth finally got me into a situation I can't talk myself out of. But right as I start to panic, I notice something with [Empathy]. Anger isn't the only emotion she's feeling, there's also a deep sadness that is quickly rising and overtaking the anger. I look at her with wide eyes and spot tears in her eyes, and dread washes over me.
"What happened to Fubuki?" I ask in a quiet voice.
"I thought you were all-knowing, asshole," Tatsumaki fires back, but the energy that fueled her rage is dying down. "Well, you were wrong. She got trapped in here too. She was one of the heroes that responded."
"So she…" I start to ask, but I'm afraid to put it into words.
"No," Tatsumaki says with a shake of her head. "No, she didn't die when I was looking for a way out. She was the only one that survived, I rushed back as soon as I realized she was in danger."
"What happened to her?" I ask, confused.
The force pinning me to the wall disappears and I slide a couple feet down to the ground. Tatsumaki crosses her arms and looks away, but her trembling is clear to see and tears stream silently down her face. Yua and Tara still look concerned, but I keep them back. It was dicey for a moment, but I have the situation under control again.
"I- I don't know," Tatsumaki admits. "It didn't take us long to figure out we were cut off from the rest of the world. One of the first things I tried to do was break through it by force." She clenches her hands around her arms, nails denting her flesh. "It really pissed me off when you said that Saitama guy would just punch his way out. Even with all my power focused on a point a nanometer wide I couldn't break this space open. Not by myself."
"Fubuki helped you then?" I ask.
"Shut up," she snaps, but there's no heat to it. "I didn't let her at first, but when I didn't get any results I agreed." Tatsumaki grimaces. "That's my biggest regret." Tatsumaki's quiet for a moment and I take the chance to check on Atsuko. She's doing fine. Or rather, she's not doing badly. She's not making any progress though, her ax only doing superficial damage to the golem.
"Fubuki's powers weren't very strong," Tatsumaki continues. "But they reacted synergistically to mine. The two of us working together could produce results stronger than the sum of our parts. So we tried, we both focused a drill of telekinetic force on the barrier around this city. And that's when it happened. She just...disappeared."
I blink. I expected some sort of backlash, but… "Did it work then?" I ask.
"I don't know," she admits in a frustrated tone. "That's the best-case scenario, right? Unless that bullshit about the doomed timeline was real. But all I know is she was there one second, then she wasn't and the drill fell apart and I was by myself."
My mind races. This Special Dungeon has so far been one surprise after another. But this was the biggest one of them all. "There are four possibilities I can think of," I say. "First, that she did indeed get out and appeared back in your world, sans you. Second, she got out, but she appeared in the Void."
Tatsumaki glanced at me. "The Void?" she asks.
"The Void has a lot of names, but it's the space between worlds," I explain. "Not really technically a 'space', you can't really map it to the three spatial dimensions that we perceive, and even time can be fucky. But it's what separates worlds from each other. This place should be a little bubble, floating freely inside the Void. That's what the others are at least."
"And if she did?" Tatsumaki asks.
I grimace. "It's not guaranteed, but living things aren't meant to be in the Void. It's not a place that they can survive."
Tatsumaki's expression darkens at that. "And the other two possibilities?"
"The worst of the two remaining possibilities is...well is that she just died, torn apart on the atomic level by the backlash of what you two were doing." Tatsumaki glares at me, anger rising again, and I raise my hands. I'm doing that a lot today. "If it makes you feel better, I consider this the least likely possibility. But I don't think it can be discounted."
"It can, trust me," she replies. "Even by accident, I could never hurt her."
"Alright alright, I'll take your word for it," I reply. I'm not willing to fight her on it. "In that case, the last possibility is still that she escaped here but…" I trail off. "Look, I can't be certain. I barely know how this works. But like I said earlier, I know for a fact that there are multiple places like this, special pocket dimensions that work like this one. They may be 'arranged' in a way that they share walls. Like cells."
"You're saying she might have left this one and entered one of those," Tatsumaki concludes. "H-how bad would that be?"
"It's...it's hard to say," I reply. "If it was you? I'd say there would be a very good chance of you conquering wherever you ended up in short order. But someone on her level?" I shrug. "There are places she could end up where she'd be fine, and places just as bad, if not worse, than your own world."
Her face twists in anger. "Then that's no help at all!" she yells, anger once again rising.
"It's your best shot at seeing her again," I reply. "Look, getting access to these places isn't easy. But I promise I'll look for her in every one of them that I can."
She pauses. "...do you really think she might be in one of those places?"
"I won't sugarcoat it," I reply. "She might, but with how little information I have, it's just as likely as the other two options. But looking is all I can do until I find a way back to your world." If traveling to her world is even possible. No, it might take time, but I'm a Gamer. Anything is possible.
+12 Affection with Tatsumaki
For giving her hope
"Fine," she says, looking away and wiping away her tears. "I still think what you're doing here with your girlfriend is irresponsible."
"She's doing fine so far," I say. "Besides, despite what I said to her, I'll jump in if it looks like she's in any actual danger of dying."
She scoffs. "Of course you will, you hypocrite."
"It's a matter of moderation," I reply smoothly. "I'm not gonna jump in if she gets a scratch. She's tough, she can handle a lot. But neither will I let her die." Kronika's Gem is charged and in my hand, ready to be used.
"You say she's doing fine, but we're going to be here all day at this rate," Tatsumaki comments as she watches Atsuko. "Or until she slips up."
Tatsumaki is right, Atsuko isn't making any progress. The golem is covered in slightly rusted cuts, but none of them reach deep enough to do real damage.
"Atsuko!" I shout, using [Sound Domain] to make sure she hears me. "What's the problem? Talk it through!"
"I can't get past its armor!" She shouts back. "And-" she's cut off as the golem backhands her, sending her flying ten feet back, but she keeps her footing and doesn't take too much damage. "And he hits like a truck! I need a bigger weapon!"
I sigh. Fine, I'll give her a hint. "Ddraig! What the fuck are you doing? How the hell is she meant to unlock your abilities if you don't tell her what they are? She should have what she needs!"
"What are you- Ah, I see," I hear him say. I tune him out as I hear Ddraig explaining things to Atsuko.
"Ddraig?" Tatsumaki asks.
"In our world humans have a chance of being born with something called a Sacred Gear," I explain. "Some of the more powerful ones are made of the soul of a powerful creature. Ddraig is the Dragon that was used to make Atsuko's Sacred Gear."
She's quiet for a moment. "Your world is really weird."
I roll my eyes. "And the talking trashcan monster I saw earlier isn't?"
"Shut up," she says, and I laugh. Things got scary between us for a second, but we talked it out. Knowing what I know now, I never would have pressed that point about Fubuki. It's one thing to call her out on her over-protective tendencies, but with Fubuki's fate unknown, and with that being partially Tatsumaki's fault, I can see why it's such a sore point.
"Boosted Gear: Gift!" Atsuko yells out. The gauntlet on her hand shines as it changes shape, and the ax she was swinging grows to be ten times its size and cleaves the golem in half. I grin. Not only did she unlock it, but she managed to use it to do more than just boost its base power, she boosted the size instead. Not an easy thing to do, but Atsuko should have unlocked this ability ages ago.
The bisected golem fell to the ground, lifeless. With a loud groaning noise, the massive iron doors started to open.
"See?" I say to Tatsumaki as we approach the door. "She pushed herself and she got stronger, that's a new ability she unlocked."
"You've made your point," Tatsumaki growls.
"Fine fine, I got it, shutting up about it now," I reply. No need to push it anymore. "Good job Atsuko," I say as we get closer to her.
"I did it!" she exclaims. Then she frowns, looking at her ax. "Uhh, how do I make this smaller now?"
"It will return to normal when you start Boosting again," Ddraig answers. "Or on its own shortly."
"Oh okay, I'll just do that then," she replies. The Boosted Gear yells out as she starts boosting again, and her ax returns to normal size.
"Now, the upsides and downsides," I start lecturing as she gets back to her maximum sustainable boosts. "Upside is that you can transfer your boosts to anyone or anything. You can give them to us, or you can do as you just did to boost the properties of something. The utility that it offers is invaluable. The downside is that you have to build those boosts up, and you lose them when you gift them and have to build them up again. You have to be careful not to leave yourself open when you use it."
"Got it," she says with a nod. I use [Observe] on her real quick. She's level 204 now, she earned quite a bit of XP for defeating the boss.
"Girl," Tatsumaki says to Atsuko.
"Atsuko," she replies.
Tatsumaki pauses. "Atsuko," she concedes.
"Yeah?" Atsuko asks with a smile on her face.
"When we get to the boss, this Monster King, use this Gift ability on me," Tatsumaki orders. "It will make me stronger, right? I'll crush the boss immediately."
Atsuko looks at me and I shrug. Our goal of unlocking the next ability for Atsuko was achieved. If Tatsumaki wants to blitz the boss, I don't mind. She shrugs as well and turns back to Tatsumaki. "Alright, sure."
[Void Detect] picks up something on the edge of my range. "Looks like we have more than just the boss to deal with. More monsters are incoming."
Tatsumaki sighs. "Let's just deal with this quickly, I want to get out of here."
The five of us work as a team to clear the monsters as we progress deeper into the cave. They're tougher than the ones above ground, but between the help of Tatsumaki and the leveling we've done, they're manageable.
The boss is kind of anti-climactic. Oh, the Monster King himself is impressive, a massive dragon almost as big as the Ender Dragon with slate-gray scales and a fiery red mouth. But Atsuko gives Tatsumaki her boosts and in seconds the boss is crushed into a small sphere, and then further crushed. And then more. By the end of it, all that's left is a superheated bit of condensed material the size of a marble.
Special Dungeon Clear!
Skill rewarded!
[Telekinesis] - Level 1(0%)
Create force and control objects using just your mind.
Exiting Special Dungeon in 60 seconds.
"Alright, that's it, we're leaving in just under a minute," I say. "Anything you want from your home Tatsumaki? I can teleport up there and grab it."
She shakes her head. "There's nothing of sentimental value there. Just a few scraps of food."
I nod and turn my attention to the marble left behind by Tatsumaki's brutal killing of the boss.
Condensed Monster King
The flesh and bone of the Monster King, compressed by a powerful telekinetic.
Huh. Neat. I stash it in my inventory. I'm not sure what I'll use it for, but it might be useful as a crafting ingredient or something.
There's not really anything else of value here, so I take the two girls by the hand, with Tara on my back and Yua, now too big for my shoulder, holding on to my leg. And when the time runs out, all of us vanish from the special dungeon and reappear in the training room.
I glance at the time and then outside. "It's already dark outside," I tell Atsuko. "You're probably expected home soon, it's a school night."
"Aww dammit," Atsuko grumbled. "It's fine, I'll just fly home. I'll see you guys later! It was nice to meet you Tatsumaki!" Atsuko rushes out, heading for the exit. I mentally prod at Yua and Tara and both of them teleport
"Where are we?" Tatsumaki as the two of us are left alone.
"This is the room I use for sparring and training," I explain as I lead us out. "It also doubles as a shelter, though I haven't needed to use it like that yet. It's in the basement of my mansion."
She raises an eyebrow. "How does a kid like you get a mansion?"
"Well, for one, land isn't at a premium like it is for you back home," I reply. "This world has thousands of cities, not just a couple dozen. Second, by being very powerful and very useful to other powerful people. I have a monopoly on magical potions. Or close enough at least."
Tatsumaki is silent for a moment. "It doesn't feel real," she says eventually. "I feel like this is a crazy dream, or I'm finally dead and this is some bizarre afterlife."
"That's not surprising considering what you've been through," I reply. "I can't imagine it's going to be easy to recover. But there's no rush. I have so many spare bedrooms that it's not even funny, and if you need anything I have a team of maids you can rely on. For now? Just rest. We'll slowly get you used to a normal life again, one day at a time."
She's quiet for a moment. "Alright, fine," she says. "Not like I have any other choice, not really. But a proper bed does sound nice." She grimaces. "And a shower."
I decide not to comment on that last one and instead lead her to a bedroom with its own bathroom she could use. She immediately sheds her clothes, uncaring that I haven't left the room yet, and enters the bathroom to clean up.
+6 Affection with Tatsumaki
For bringing her back to civilization
That puts her at 47 Affection, the perfect range for a Heart Crystal. I figure I might as well go all-in on someone important and powerful like Tatsumaki and use a Super Heart Crystal to push her all the way to 67.
Perk rewarded for 50 Affection with Tatsumaki
[Legal Loli Lover] - Increases Affection gain with adult women with small figures by 20%
I make sure to tell Sakuya and Wilhelm about our latest guest while she showers, informing both of them of her otherworldly nature and how she'll need to be educated on what this world is like.
After that, I teleport into my Alchemy room and start making new potions. A lot of my time has been going into doing that but it's important work and it's making me a lot of money. While I automate the ones I need the most of, I also start making some by hand.
I spend a couple hours like that, just relaxing as I work. The Special Dungeon was a lot more intense than I thought it would be and it's nice to just lose myself in some simple work.
[Void Detect] picks up a flash of Void behind me, and as I turn I see Ophis suddenly appear.
"You've gotten stronger," Ophis comments as she looks me up and down.
I relax. People suddenly teleporting into my home makes me jumpy, but I don't mind talking to Ophis a bit. I hope to drag her to my side after all. "I had a pretty good weekend, got a lot of training done."
"You told the truth," she states, confusing me for a second.
"You mean when I said that if you give me time I can get a lot stronger?" She nods. "Well yeah, there's no reason to lie about that."
"Many do," she replies shortly.
"Fair," I say with a shrug. "But I'm not like them."
+12 Affection with Ophis
For proving yourself reliable
She nods in agreement. "Your cookies were good, thank you."
"I'm glad you liked them," I reply. "I have more if you want?" She nods again and I pull a plate out of my inventory and hand them over. They disappear in a flash of Void, though I can't tell where they've gone. I guess she's saving them for later?
"I have a gift too," she replies. "For the cookies, and for telling the truth."
New Trait added!
[Blessing of Ophis] - Void Form is now more powerful and costs less.
"You...blessed me?" I ask, confused. Is that something she could do? I think it was just the thing with the snakes?
She nods. "You are very compatible with me," she says. I'm not sure if it's meant to be an explanation or not though.
"I see," I reply. Well, it's a pretty good boon. "Thank you Ophis, I won't let you down."
She nods. "Good." And without even saying goodbye, she disappears in another flash of Void. Is that what it's going to be like with her? Her randomly appearing and then leaving just as abruptly? I sigh. It probably is. I'll have to stock up on cookies.
I look at the time and it's later than I realize. I start cleaning up my [Alchemy] stuff when I notice something with [Void Detect]. Speaking of troublesome legal lolis, it seems like Tatsumaki is wandering the halls.
I quickly clean up and then I [Void Travel] near her. I don't want to appear right next to her for fear of being thrown through a wall because I spooked her. She turns her head towards me anyways, watching as I round the corner. She can sense me then? Interesting.
"I'm surprised you're not asleep right now, all things considered," I say as I approach her. I note with interest that she's also completely naked, even though she's standing in front of a large window that looks out to the rest of Kuoh.
She looks away from me and back to the view in front of her with a small huff. "I can't sleep," she admits. "I'm too restless. My body isn't used to sleeping for more than an hour."
Ah. "I have a potion that could put you to sleep, but it wouldn't keep you asleep for long," I say.
She shakes her head. "It's fine, I just need to adjust."
"Speaking of adjusting, can I ask about your clothes? Or rather, your lack of them?" I ask.
She shrugs. "Clothes feel weird now, I don't like them. Why? You don't have a problem with me going around naked, do you?"
"Not at all, you're free to dress as much or as little as you want in this house," I reply.
She snorts. "Not surprising. I talked to one of your maids earlier. She told me all about your harem and your tendencies."
I shrug. "It's not a secret. I'm a lustful and loving guy."
"I'm sure," she says with a hint of sarcasm.
"Out of curiosity, which maid was it?" I ask.
"Why, so you can punish them?" Tatsumaki asks.
I sigh. "No, I don't mind that they told you. What, I was going to keep that a secret? Not only would that be impossible, but it would imply I'm ashamed of it. I'm not. Polygamy isn't unusual here among certain circles. I was just curious."
She looks at me from the corner of her eye for a moment before turning back to look out the window again. "The one with the black hair. She didn't seem to like you."
Ah. "Raynare," I reply. "Now I'm a little afraid she might have painted a bad picture of me. You're right in that she doesn't like me very much."
"She says you tricked her," Tatsumaki comments.
"That's more or less true, though it lacks context," I reply. "While following orders from a traitorous higher up, she tried to kill me, almost causing a political incident. Her chosen method was to seduce me and kill me when I lowered my guard during sex. Unfortunately for her, I knew she was going to try to kill me, so I reversed her ambush on her. I captured her, and when her backup arrived I told them to surrender. Two of them didn't, so they died. The last one did surrender though, that's another one of my maids, Mittelt. She's the blonde one about your size."
"So you captured them and turned them into maids?" Tatsumaki asks.
"No, I turned them back over to their leader," I reply. "And then he decided to punish them for following orders they knew they shouldn't have by having them work as my maids. But they're also spying on me and are how I communicate with their leader."
"That's…" she starts but trails off, lost for words.
"Politics," I finish for her. "Weird and supernatural politics."
"Does the other one hate you as well?" she asks.
"No, she's been fine," I reply. "She...enjoys the power dynamic. And she likes that I indulge her preferences."
Tatsumaki rolls her eyes. "You don't need to pretty up the language for me," she says. "She's kinky and you have some sort of roleplay going on with her."
I laugh. "Yeah, pretty much. We're still in the early stages of it though."
"Are you going to rope Raynare into your little games too?" Tatsumaki asks.
"No, I don't think she's interested," I reply.
"Well, at least you have that much restraint," she comments a little dryly. "Though not enough that you won't stop ogling me."
"Do you want me to stop?" I ask. She's right, after all, I have been. "I was under the impression that you didn't mind, and you have a beautiful body."
She rolls her eyes. "I was a hero that flew around and wore a high-legged dress without wearing panties. No, I don't care if you look. Though if this is you putting your moves on me, save it. I'm not interested."
I shrug. "Understandable, but no, that was just me stating my opinion in response to what you said. I think you're beautiful, you're naked, and I'm a known pervert, so I'm going to do a bit of respectful ogling."
She snorts. "Respectful ogling, that's a new one."
I chuckle as well but don't reply and we fall into a comfortable silence.
"...what do I do now?" Tatsumaki asks.
I sigh. "I don't know. This world doesn't need a hero, not in the same sense as what you were. There are powerful beings who want to sow chaos and destruction though-"
"No," she cuts me off and shakes her head. "No, I'm done fighting. If this world doesn't need heroes, then I'm retiring. I've had enough fighting to last me a lifetime."
I shrug. "Okay, that's fine. Honestly, you don't have to do anything. You can stay here as long as you want and do whatever, and there's no one else to tell you what to do. I'd be fine with you even lazing about all day."
She doesn't reply, so I continue. "Look, there's no rush. You are fresh out of a traumatic experience. You can't ignore the effects it's had on you. Just take your time, adjust, think about what you want to do. If you want to be productive, just ask me, I'm sure I can find something you can help with. If you want to be lazy, be lazy. If you want to do something different each day that's fine too. I'm here to help with whatever you want."
"...why?" she asks. "This is a bit much for doing it out of the kindness of your heart."
I shrug. "Is it? I'm filthy rich and powerful in my own right. I respect you a lot. There's not much I think you'd be likely to ask for that would be difficult for me to provide, save for...Fubuki. But I'll work on that, I promise. Anything else? It costs me nothing." And I really want her in my harem. She's too sexy and too powerful to pass up.
"...fine, I guess I'll decide later," she replies. She turns away from the window and floats down the hallway. "I'm going to bed again."
"Sleep well," I tell her. "And I'm available if you need anything."
She doesn't reply and just floats away and around the corner. I sigh and look back out the window. It's going to be hard to get her out of her funk, but what I said to her is just as true for me. There's no rush, she just needs to adjust.
I turn away from the window and head to my bedroom as well. My girls are waiting for me.
-x-
-Bonus Scene-
Hibiki took a deep breath to settle her nerves. Today she'd finally given in and decided to use the Devil summoning pamphlet to call a Devil. She had no other choice. The dreams hadn't stopped and the need to know what was going on was keeping her up at night. She didn't think it was worth giving up her soul over but even confirming that it worked would be something. And she could always just not make a deal...hopefully.
She had prepared as best she could, though she had no idea what she should prepare for. Her windows were closed and the curtains drawn. She lit the candles she had in case the power went out. She made a circle with salt that she kind of regretted because she knew it was going to be hell to try to clean up later. She also managed to dig up a cross a relative had given her once and had it hidden in her pocket. And finally, Aria was locked out of her room for her protection. Not that the kitten cared, she just napped in a sunbeam. It was a nice Sunday afternoon after all.
She took another shaky break, stood right in front of the salt circle, and picked up the pamphlet. She had been avoiding touching it directly in case she accidentally summoned a Devil, but now was the time to do it. She held it in front of her and thought really hard about wanting to find out the truth about her neighbor.
She flinched in surprise as a bright light appeared on her floor, and her eyes widened as that bright light turned into a magic circle that looked a lot like the one on the pamphlet, which was also glowing. She scrambled back and when the circle stopped growing it disappeared, leaving behind a person. But not the sort of person she expected.
The girl in front of her was...well she looked like your average high school girl. She wore big glasses and had her brown hair in braids. She was dressed in a casual outfit, a tank top, and a simple skirt. She looked kinda familiar, but she was also pretty plain, so it was hard to be sure. Did the summoning circle mess up? Did she summon a teenage girl instead of a Devil?
"One Devil at your service!" the girl said with a confident smirk. Hibiki sees the girl's eyes flick over the salt circle and the candles before focusing back on her. "What can I do to help?"
"Y-you're a Devil?" Hibiki asked, internally cursing at her stuttering.
"Yep!" the girl responded cheerily. "Don't worry, I get doubted a lot. People expect red skin, horns, or just something more supernatural. All I've got are these." A pair of leathery black wings suddenly expand from her back, causing Hibiki's eyes to widen. "Yeah, that usually convinces people. So what's up?"
"What- what will it cost me?" Hibiki asked, nervous.
"That depends on what you want," the Devil girl explained. "Don't worry, we don't take souls or anything like that. Devils stopped doing that millennia ago. Prices vary but are usually material goods or services. Usually not money though. Ask me what you need done and I'll be able to calculate a personalized price for you using an app on my phone."
An app? "I didn't expect you to be so...modern," Hibiki commented.
"I'm glad we are though," the girl replied. "It'd be a real pain figuring it out if it wasn't. So what do you need help with? Boy troubles? Parent troubles? Bullies? Girl troubles?"
"Nothing like that!" Hibiki protested before pausing. "Okay, maybe you could call it boy troubles. But it's weirder than that. It's...supernatural. It's why I called a Devil instead of a private investigator."
The girl's eyes sparkled. "Ooh, interesting. Tell me more."
Hibiki sighed. "I used to live in a different apartment. When I was living there a guy moved into the room next to me. A high school boy, but he was living by himself. And within a few days, he started bringing girls back to his apartment and would have sex with them. Loudly. The walls between our rooms were pretty thin so I heard it pretty clearly."
The girl nodded, a smile still on her face. "A common problem in apartments like that."
"Well, it wasn't too much of a problem. I umm…" Hibiki trailed off.
"Hey, don't worry about it," the girl said. "I'm a Devil, there's no judgment here."
"It's still embarrassing to say…" Hibiki replied. "But umm. I kinda liked it. I'd listen in and...use it as inspiration."
"Hot," the girl said, causing Hibiki to blush.
"Anyways, not long after that started happening, I started dreaming about him. And when I say dreaming, I mean the most realistic dreams I've ever had. And they don't fade away, I still remember most of them pretty clearly. Again, I didn't mind too much. I used them as inspiration too, for my art. I drew out the scenes I dream and it's really helped with my popularity.
The girl tilted her head. "Aren't you a little young to be posting that kind of thing online?"
Hibiki frowned, annoyed. "I'm twenty-two," she countered grumpily.
The girl chuckled awkwardly. "Ah haha. Sorry about that, my bad. Okay, so you dreamed about the dude. Is that the supernatural bit?"
"No, or I didn't think it was at the time," Hibiki continued. "I thought that was...well I thought it was just making me horny. It wasn't that strange. Even when I moved out of that apartment and I moved in here and the dreams continued I didn't think it was that strange. But then other weird stuff started happening."
Hibiki got up and made her way to the window and opened the curtain. The girl followed her, casually stepping over the salt circle much to Hibiki's annoyance. But she pushed that aside and pointed to the mansion visible from there. "It started when that got built over the course of a few days. I tried complaining about the noise, but no one knew what I was talking about, they said it had been perfectly quiet."
The Devil girl was still smiling, but now she looked more amused than anything. Was she not taking her seriously?
"Then the week after that I heard a crashing noise from there. When I went to look, I saw what looked like a spaceship of some kind crashed into the backyard. And a second later that old neighbor, the one I've been dreaming about, appeared on top of it."
"That is definitely supernatural," the girl agreed with a nod, still grinning. "Anything else?"
"A naked woman with pink hair and fairy wings also appeared," Hibiki continued. "I tried to take pictures and video, but they all showed a normal backyard. And then the next morning it was gone, though the grass was still messed up from where it was."
"I see," the girl responds. "Okay, I think I get the gist. You want me to look into this dude? Figure out what's up with him, and why you're still dreaming of him?"
Hibiki nods. "That's all I want. I just need to know. Not knowing is driving me crazy. I- I don't even necessarily want the dreams to stop. They're great for my art. I just can't keep living like this."
"I can do that, but before I get started, I need a couple things," the girl said with a smile. "First, can I see some of your art? Specifically, the ones modeled after your dreams."
"Sure, I guess," Hibiki replied as she woke up her computer. "I don't know how I feel about showing a high school girl porn though."
The girl in question rolled her eyes. "Please, I wouldn't be surprised if I follow you already. Plus, I'm a Devil."
Hibiki shrugged. It wasn't like she hadn't looked at porn in high school. Hell, she started back in middle school. She pulled up her most recent completed drawing, a simple scene where the man was having sex with her on an office desk.
"Ooh, that's some good stuff, and very detailed," the girl praised. "I don't think I follow you though, I don't recognize the style. I'll look you up later. But it's awfully brave of you to draw yourself as the heroine."
Hibiki blushed. "Most people don't know it's me, I call her an OC. But it's me in the dreams, so it's me in the drawings."
"That makes sense I guess," the girl responded. She looked at Hibiki. "One last question. Do you know the guy's name?"
She nodded. "I don't know his last name, but I uhh. I heard his given name plenty through the walls." The Devil girl chuckled at that. "His name is Axton. He's a foreigner, I think."
"I see," the girl replied with a grin. "Ah, sorry, I just realized I never introduced myself. I'm Aika, and don't you worry. I'll help you get to the bottom of this in no time flat."
