First Day of Fighting

Idly on the way home, I started wondering if it would make me seem desperate to get in touch with Yuuma this early, or rude for not getting in touch with her. Ultimately, I just decided to leave it be for now. I shouldn't get too attached… "Ah… Hey, Caster? I know it's an odd question, but do you know any enslavement curses?"

"Micoon!?" What a reaction…

"I don't… Want more than the absolutely necessary amount of death… So if possible…"

"Ah… You want to keep her as our loyal maid and pet?"

"Not… The words I would use, but sure, I guess?"

"Alright! Leave it to your adorable and loyal— Ah… Um… Your lovely Caster!" She nearly called herself my wife again. "I will make sure to train and teach her properly!" …why do I suddenly feel like I made a mistake…

o.O.o.O.o

"Combat—" Jesus Christ?! No, wait, it's just Kirei. He pretty much just waited for me to move past him and started talking on his own, his NPC status making it almost seem like a statue suddenly decided to talk. "—between Masters is prohibited in the Arena and on campus at all times. If, for some reason, a fight occurs, the system will shut it down within three turns. As a penalty, the status of any Master caught fighting on campus will be downgraded."

Kill the enemy within three turns and don't get caught. It probably wasn't what he meant, but the general disposition and existence that is Kirei more or less strongly implied such an option. I gave him a nod and moved on toward the Arena, having safely left my body in my room back in Kuoh as if sleeping.

There were some things, in theory, that could be done before entering the Arena, but I did not have the local currency nor did I have… Actually, would we even need those level up points? …better not to show up empty handed just in case, so the Arena it is!

Entering the arena was rather easy as I appeared form a glowing square into a very… Blue area that immediately eliminated my readiness and made my arms shoot up to either side of me. The ground was made of platforms, squares, which also made the walls, each individual square nearly twice my height and supported by absolutely nothing, as well as lacking a 'roof', all of which filled me with anxiety and worry that everything will suddenly just collapse or I could somehow end up above and on the other side of the walls, falling into the endless void beyond.

The fact that the squares were also mostly transparent did not help. It was simply a blue tinted darkness below and even if I did not have a fear of heights before, I chose to believe I was entirely justified in being worried and scared of this sort of situation. Deep down, I knew it was fine and I wouldn't fall through, but I was unable to just push down the worry and absolute fear that the floor below would just crack or I would somehow slip through.

{How will you fly if you're afraid of falling?} Melusine made a comment before I felt the comfortable feeling of the wings lulling out as if to assure me.

"Oh!" Tamamo, who did not share my fear and who had just stepped out and forward normally, seemed to realize why I wasn't moving. "It's fine, it's fine." She insisted in a comforting tone and helped me lower my arms, gently taking my forearms and guiding me forward. "I will keep you safe."

I did not know how to actually use the wings for flight, but as I took the first, careful, step on the platform, I was sure as hell apparently trying to learn how to do so considering the sheer panic with which I felt the wings moving. I did not fall through, leading to a second step and by the third I realized I probably shouldn't be looking at the void below and my feet, but in front of myself.

Carefully, I moved and was guided forward— Until I saw Melusine moving past both of us with a casual step and realized I did not actually have the wings due to her leaving. Tamamo was the only solid thing to grab on to and I did, hearing a small yelp from her as I did and feeling a squish as I more or less forced my body against her's.

[+15 LP]

"S-Sorry…" But we still were not falling through, so I let her go, ignoring what I was pretty sure was a small whine from her as I did so.

There were no warnings from anything about Melusine being here and, to try and take my mind off of the previous likely shameful display, I reached into my inventory and took out Dimension Slicer. Still, nothing tried to prevent this sort of development, which meant that the plan would more or less work.

From what I could remember, the enemies were Programs created by the SE.RA.PH. for the purposes of being fought, trained, against. One of them, a strange square that was connected by a very accordion-like tube was within sight. Programs that they were, there should be no trouble killing them. They were not truly intelligent or the sort that could give me nightmares of blood or whatever not.

It would be no different than the many, many, video game enemies that had been slain before. I just had to ignore the feeling of seeing through the floor and charge forward. With a yell, I did just that— And missed. The program had noticed me, moving its body out of the range of my swing, 'collapsing' its body before launching half of itself like a spring that impacted my face with enough force to make me stumble back a few steps.

…this motherfucker just broke my nose. Okay, fuck that guy, now it's personal!

o.O.o.O.o

Tamamo-no-Mae watched by the side of the strange little girl-woman-dragon-Bunrei-thing that was apparently innately more close to her new Master slash Husband than she was. And she was totally not bitter about that. No. Not at all. Well, even if she had been, it was hard to be bitter about it in this sort of situation.

Over all, it was good that he had both of them. He was not some grand warrior, after all, or someone she normally would have bet on winning. He seemed so very naïve and inexperienced and trying to force himself not to be gentle when in reality he really was and probably just wanted to find a place to hide himself and forget the world existed. She wanted to spoil him and let him do that too! But he was already in trouble before she arrived.

Whoever it was that was going to be causing him trouble, he was doing his best not to be scared off. He probably didn't really want to enslave or punish her either, but that was just the sort of person he was and was probably trying to grow away from being. Which was good. A meek heart wouldn't get him far.

…even that consideration mostly faded away at the scene in front of her. It must have been five, maybe ten, minutes now. He was inexperienced with a weapon and doing his best to catch up to and fight the enemy program in spite of that fact, which resulted in a lot of misses and counter attacks from the Program. At first she was a bit shocked in place by the sight, then she believed he'd get a hang of it… And he was, slowly…

It was like watching a child constantly trying and failing to walk properly in a way. On that note, she was surprised he overcame his worry about falling through the floor enough to already be swinging and running wildly. He probably could have asked either of them for help or to kill it instead of him and either of them would have done so… Or so she thought…

"Experience will teach him well." Was what the girl, Melusine, had said. It had been some time since then and even she was starting to get impatient.

He let out a groan of frustration, one of many and yet this one was accented differently. "Caster!" He almost whined. "Do you have any support spells to help me?!" …not exactly how she expected to end up helping, but it was a start and if nothing else, her Master had spirit. Maybe this will help him get over himself and stop being too meek to accept her as his wife already!

o.O.o.O.o

A few discoveries were made, including the Trigger and two items which would likely come in handy.

[Ether Shard Obtained!]

[Ether Shard

Type: Healing Item

Quality: D

A mysterious crystalline substance that restores 20% of HP]

[Phoenix Scarf

Type: Formal Wear

Quality: C

A stylish silk scarf adorned with the feathers of the mythical phoenix.

Code Casts:

[boost_mp]: Wielder's MP is increased by 100

[heal(16)]: Slightly heals HP. MP Used: 30]

The MP boost was pretty negligible, though it was also affected by my other skills, which meant I got another ten thousand MP instead… Somehow… And the Heal was also useful. The scarf itself was quite comfortable. I should probably give it to Asia at some point… Or Rias. Someone. Adding another healing option and power to Asia could be useful, but would it be more useful to give it to someone who otherwise doesn't have one of those?

Whatever the case, the more important discovery was that I was currently too weak to face off against the programs without external help, the platforms were more solid than expected and regardless of who of the three of us ends up killing the enemy, EXP is obtained anyway.

…partly out of shame, we split up in an almost desperate attempt not to embarrass myself further. The platforms made up a maze-like arena in which enemies showed up, spawned, in various locations. Normally, it would be best to move along the whole area, or just most of it, killing the programs as they spawn. Tamamo had been given the half closer to me and Melusine the other half, our opponent not in the Arena apparently.

There were three enemy types on this floor. The floating accordion cubes, a sort of giant… Wasp… And a floating very bendy shield looking thing… Or was it a very flat and horizontal bird? More of a shield… I only faced a single shield while Tamamo and Melusine took care of everything else. The shield was large and surprisingly aggressive enough to be a proper enemy to train against without the constant avoiding of the accordion.

Melusine mostly fought with her Innocence Arondight, forearm mounted blades that beat the enemies with more speed, power and skill than I was capable of. Tamamo wielded a floating mirror that listened to her mental commands, usually just floating around her like a satellite and being capable of being used to great effect for blunt attacks without even breaking. Otherwise, she occasionally pulled out a slip of paper that had a prepared curse on it or simply punched and kicked until the enemy was defeated.

I had Dimension Slicer and apparently not enough damage to defeat the enemies instantly in spite of that. The main goal at this point was just trying not to be dead weight, but I gradually just accepted that it would be difficult to catch up to them any time soon and that it might be better to leave the fighting to them for the time being. Well, my stats were not horrible, all things considered even if he had been fighting for hours at this point, the enemies respawning every few seconds.

[Name: Issei Hyoudou

Level: 10

Job: None

Title: Enemy of All Women

HP: 1.000/1.000

MP: 110.000/110.000

Fatigue: 43

Strength: 50

Vitality: 40

Dexterity: 51

Quickness: 45

Intelligence: 24

Wisdom: 20

Charisma: 25

Magic: 35

Luck: 20

Remaining Points: 6]

The enemies, like myself, worked on a conceptual HP basis, meaning that even if I struck them at full force which had visibly moved through them, only a certain amount of HP damage would be done instead of the enemy actually getting cut down. Perhaps as a result, even with five times the Strength I had yesterday, I was not able to consistently strike them down in under four attacks.

Melusine however did teach me a bit of a starting skill in Magic that let me level up the stat.

[[Mana Burst Lv.3/100] – The increase in performance caused by infusing one's weapons and body with Magical Energy and instantly expelling it. Simply put, recreating the effect of a jet burst by expending large amounts of Magical Energy. As the skill progresses, less MP is required to achieve the same effects, as well as the possibility of infusing various other traits into the burst opening up. 1 Point of Damage per Skill Level is applied for every 1 MP spent]

Rather than static amounts, MP was based on a percentage of my MAX MP, which would have normally been low, but with the sheer amount of MP I had, I was able to consistently use a good amount of Mana Burst, almost consecutively as well, without really going lower than the amount of MP being used. This, however, did not unlock a convenient skill that passively enhanced my attacks with Bursts. Yet, at least. The skill was at a low amount anyway.

Furthermore, while leveling restored fatigue on paper, it did not do anything about mental exhaustion, effectively forcing me to start taking breaks in the latter stages, especially to get away from the slapping shield punishing my mistakes. At least this let me observe Tamamo. She was, technically, my Heroic Spirit and thus the main one to fight in this tournament with me, while Melusine was… A unique sort of situation.

I had to figure out how best to utilize her in battle. She seemed to know what she was doing however… At least until I arrived at which point she seemed to try and show off a bit more than necessary so I did my best to lightly warn her and 'order' her to get her head back in the game. The 'Alright~!'s that she gave me were rather cute and every movement she made, even if she seemed unsure about some of my suggestions, seemed to be to try and please me.

Maybe I should talk to her about that as well, but it wasn't hurting anyone… Except the programs. Just because I told her to do something that doesn't mean she has to do it if she thinks it's a stupid idea. Hopefully she would confront me if it comes to it and I do make an absolutely and objectively stupid decision that does not benefit anyone but the enemy.

Eventually however, even if I was not quite pleased about the progress of a certain skill…

[[Sword Combat Proficiency Lv.2/?] – When wielding a sword, bonuses are applied. Increases attack speed by 1% per skill level and all damage done using the weapon by 0.1% per skill level. Learning and improving sword-related skills is increased by 1% per skill level]

…which was not all that effective right now, but would surely become useful in the future… We had to head out. The Daily Workout reset every midnight and I kept an eye on the countdown. At around three in the morning, we called it a day, pretty sure that continuing past midnight wouldn't prevent us from coming back. Well, we'd find out.

We had been fighting for nine hours without that many breaks anyway! There should be limits even if there was a lack of any other way to measure and decide the time, I was not sure if Heroic Spirits felt exhaustion in the same way and leveling up had restored most of my physical fatigue, forcing me to go 'just a few more minutes and then we'll be done for now' several times. There should be limits even if I was terrible at determining them!

[Draconic Total Concentration Breath] had also leveled up to three and [Dragon Heart] to two, but they hadn't brought grand benefits with them… Before I could keep us here for even longer, I took us out of the Arena through the same square we had appeared from and out of the Moon Cell swiftly after.

My true physical eyes had only opened for a few moments, setting up an alarm as quickly as I could for a quick nap of about an hour. It was a Saturday, but there were things that had to be done, including the Daily Training of which I had already done the sword part in the Arena.

I proceeded to wake up at eight in the morning, alarm clock in hand with Tamamo resting next to me, using my shoulder as a pillow while Melusine was using my chest on the other hand for the same purpose.

[+250 LP]

…This was nice, but I hadn't realized it was that nice?! Ah, if I already have this kind of LP, maybe I should…

[Eros: 4,500

LP: 350

Status: Virgin

Orientation: Monster Fucker / Straight(?)

Dick Size: B

Cum Production: C

Sexual Stamina: C

Dick Quality: C

Pheromones: C

Edging: D

Sensitivity: B

Fertility: C]

…from what I gathered, Eros could be used as a substitution for MP at a conversion rate that required a lot less Eros and had a very high efficiency leading to greater results. More importantly, most of my stats had changed on their own… Hm… It would have probably been better to go for actual skills, but spending LP like this was bound to make more LP so with some will, three hundred LP was spent getting the Quality up to an A rank.

It seemed like the best option. Another good choice was decided to be trying to wiggle out of the bed before I get lost in fantasies about who to use these stats on. I… Probably did not need that sort of risky situation this early into our relationships. "Awake already?" It was obviously impossible to avoid waking up either one of them.

"Yeah… I need to do some more physical training, obviously… And I overslept…" I was trying not to think about complicated things like how I would be in an actual fight against something, someone, that isn't just a Program for when it actually happens. Even so, I had to actually prepare.