[Hajime POV]
It had been two months since we fought our first stray devil, and a lot had changed.
Firstly, in terms of general strength, Tsubaki, Kimiko, and Blue have all grown tremendously.
Tsubaki, previously advanced low-class, was now initiate-stage mid-class, bordering beginner-stage.
Her use of Mirror Alice had improved, lowering the cooldown by a few seconds and being able to reflect attacks from those in advanced mid-class.
Her naginata skill has also improved, thanks to Deathstroke's skill with cold weaponry.
Likewise, Kimiko's skill with the wind staff had improved drastically. Though she wasn't as good as Robin, she could now wield it properly, unlike before when she was swinging it around.
She'd also trained her enhancement magic, pushing her into beginner low-class. It wasn't the fastest growth in the world, but it was impressive, considering she was a monkey without much magical talent.
Though they wouldn't have stood a chance against the stray, their current selves would've made the fight much easier.
Blue hadn't had many changes, only existing for the last two months, but she realized that our training had made us stronger.
While she has joined our training sessions, she does so reluctantly. That's because I only plan on letting her fight others once she's at least initiate low-class. While she could theoretically kill someone if she takes them by surprise, that rarely works in higher ranks unless you specialize in assassination.
Once you reached high-class, you generally developed the ability to sense magic, if vaguely. Training that ability was something most did, however, understanding the usefulness of knowing nearby threats.
That only solidifies how Rias and Sona were only high-class in name. They should've easily sensed Raynare when she first met Issei since it was outside the school. Even if you say Ddraig's power 'covered up the energy,' Raynare was actively disguising herself with magic and almost certainly gave off a holy energy they would've sensed had they been able to.
Not only are devils more sensitive to holy and light magic than most supernatural beings, but Akeno is a fallen angel. Even if she doesn't use her powers, they should still be familiar with the feeling.
We hadn't neglected to train our combat skills, going after at least one bounty a week.
Few rogues were left nearby, so we would likely go to train somewhere else soon. It would also allow us to find some possible locations for our base.
The biggest changes came from Telos Karma.
My teammates weren't the only ones training. During this time, I had been spinning the gacha and training.
The gacha rewards were the best part.
While half of them were simple objects, like furniture, appliances, and food, the rest were much greater.
Starting with the weakest of the rewards-
{ Pamela Beesley }
{ A saleswoman, office administrator, and former receptionist. She is skilled in managerial work and art. }
Not useful for me right now, but she will be in the future. I'll need people to keep my organization running. If she doesn't want to do that, I can hire her to make art to decorate the place.
She's also a good candidate for my first human summon. Blue is an animal, but even with the familiar bond, I don't know what she's thinking. Pam would be a safe choice to learn more about what happens during summoning.
{ Jetpack }
{ Can allow a person to fly without wings. }
Not a bad item at all. If I recreated it with more eco-friendly power, I could easily sell it in the human or supernatural world. It would be a good source of income. The military potential alone would net me billions.
{ Lamborghini }
{ A luxury Italian car. The car registration is in your name. }
Nothing much to say about this. Can't even use it for a few years.
{ Camilo Madrigal }
{ The oldest male of the new Madrigal generation. Camilo loves to mess with others using his shapeshifting powers. }
So he's a discount Mystique, but not bad. I can technically shapeshift, but only into the characters I've assimilated. That hasn't been necessary since I haven't needed to hide for any reason.
{ Pakku }
{ A grandmaster waterbender from the Northern Water Tribe. Biased toward the patriarchy of the tribe, before his student Katara helped to change his mind. }
A solid card. Decades of fighting, teaching, and political skills. Waterbending even worked with two other cards I got.
{ Bai Tza }
{ A water demon and one of Shendu's siblings. She sunk the city of Atlantis so she would have a place to rule over }
{ Kevin Moskowitz (The Deep) }
{ A member of The Seven and one of Homelander's lackeys. After being injected with Compound V, he could breathe underwater and communicate with fish. He indulges in a degenerate lifestyle, including fish, and forced himself onto Starlight. }
Bai Tzu's information was very interesting and likely had unique information, making her someone I planned to assimilate. I probably wouldn't be doing anything with The Deep, though.
He was not only one of the biggest scumbags in The Boys, but had sex with an octopus. Not a memory that I wanted anywhere near me. There was also the rape of Starlight, which again, not something I wanted to see. I could eventually replicate his ability to talk to fish in several ways, so I didn't need him.
{ David Shield }
{ A scientist from a world of superpowers. He has developed technology that can enhance those abilities several times over. }
A scientist, something I desperately needed added to my assimilations. Most of my plans would require me to be so valuable that no one can afford to mess with me, so this is a must.
One of the items I got was useful in a different way. I needed a place to store Blue since I didn't want her to keep tearing the bedsheets apart, and luckily, I got something for that.
{ Newt Scamander's Suitcase }
{ A suitcase enchanted with an extension charm, making the interior the size of a zoo. Designed to hold many magical creatures and can shift between a magical suitcase and a normal one as a disguise. }
The first thing I did when I got it was to check for anything living inside, but thankfully it was uninhabited. I don't think I'd be able to afford to feed everything that was there. However, it contained many books in his library, including books related to Hogwarts and magizoologist books.
It was especially useful since there were others that I might need to care for soon, too.
{ Bunnicula }
{ A vampiric rabbit and the former pet of Dracula. }
From what I knew about him, he was very chaotic but protected his owner as best he could. I wouldn't summon him yet since I didn't know if he'd see me as his owner.
{ Xerneas }
{ A legendary Pokemon with the power over life. Can heal the wounded, cure the sick, and even bring life to the dead. }
While I planned to summon it eventually, I would not bring someone who could resurrect others into this world unless I had no other choice. Messing with gods of death wasn't something done casually. It was why devils were often at odds with other pantheons, able to poach talent from someone who couldn't deny them.
That said, I got an item that performed necromancy, which I could use.
{ Yatsufusa }
{ One of the 48 teigu the first emperor made and one of the few not lost after the civil war. Wave destroyed Yatsufusa during the revolution after its wielder, Kurome, died. }
It was a weapon that could turn the corpse of those it killed into a puppet that would fight fr the wielder.
Unfortunately, the bounty system had safeguards and would know if the corpse was disturbed with magic. If the corpse had magic applied to it, the caster would be flagged in their system as a danger and have a high bounty issued.
Luckily, that only applied if the person had their bounty turned in. Since the puppets can die as long as the corpse's damage is enough, I could hold onto bounties for as long as I want to or until I replace the corpse puppet with a stronger one.
{ Welf Crozzo }
{ A blacksmith and former member of the Hephaestus familia. A reincarnation of his ancestor Crozzo, he can create magic swords. He refused to create magic swords after learning of the destruction they caused to elfkind, prompting him to escape Rakia and the Ares familia with the help of his former goddess, Phobos. }
A powerful and skilled blacksmith. The world of Danmachi is strange since it implies that godhood might be possible but never says anything specific.
Either you become a god at level 10, or you never do, but it's never confirmed. The part that makes it so confusing is, ironically, the protagonist. Thanks to a skill from his past life as Argonaut, he managed to go from level 1 to level 5 in less than a year. If becoming a god was possible, he'd likely reach level 10 in under three years as an adventurer, which trivializes the point of godhood if it was that easy to get.
Welf could be a good summon or assimilation, depending on whether I need his skills.
Only one more item I had was considered 'normal.'
{ Sube Sube no Mi }
{ The slip-slip fruit which Alvida ate. Capable of causing anything to slip off the user and potentially more upon awakening. }
An underrated devil fruit, which makes any form of close combat pointless. I could practically dominate any fight with something negating magic, like my Thanagarian Mace.
Now for the really powerful stuff.
{ Jack Sparrow's Compass }
{ This compass can locate whatever you desire; the needle will point the direction you need to go. Never get lost again. }
Funny enough, the compass was the weakest of the overpowered stuff, but I certainly had some ideas for what I could do with it.
Everything else I had was a character, but each was powerful. I got two by stacking rolls for a week, while I was lucky with the last one.
{ Adam }
{ The first man and leader of the exorcists. Goes down to hell yearly to have fun killing sinners. }
Adam wasn't even a stacked roll. I just got lucky, especially considering the church and my Excalibur Blessing. I could create so many political problems if I wanted to, but I'd probably use it to mess with the church. He is technically an angel because of his wings, not to mention his holy energy. I'd confuse the church so much, which is something I'm sure he'd enjoy.
Next was a powerful fighter.
{ Donquixote Doflamingo }
{ One of the former seven warlords, known as Joker in the underworld. Imprisoned in Impel Down after his defeat to Luffy in Dressrosa. }
He was arguably the strongest character I had gotten until now. Wielder of the awakened String-String fruit and all three hakis, he was one of Luffy's toughest fights.
His awakened ability, The Birdcage, is incredibly dangerous. The attack could even block den den mushi signals, which aren't a physical object, yet the Birdcage 'destroyed' them.
When he used the ability in Dressrosa, he used it wanting to destroy everything, going full scorched earth with the move. The scary part was that he wasn't even losing. He used it and then continued to fight, with his attack only vanishing once he lost.
That meant the entire time he fought Luffy and Law, he was likely also controlling the Birdcage.
Even a minor version of the move would easily defeat almost everyone under high-class, and its full strength would threaten most ultimate-class.
Despite the benefits of assimilating Adam or Doflamingo, I was currently assimilating someone else.
{ Jiraiya }
{ One of the three legendary Sannin, student of the Third Hokage, teacher of the Fourth and Seventh Hokages, and Toad Sage. Despite his civilian origins, he rose to become one of Konohagakure's most historically important shinobi. }
The second I could, I put Jiraiya into the assimilation slot, if for no reason other than shadow clones, which is one of fiction's most broken powers.
While my current assimilation progress for Jiraiya had chunnin strength, and unfortunately for me, I couldn't use shadow clones yet, it didn't matter. I'd get to use them soon enough, allowing me to do far more than I already am.
Not only would I be able to study several times faster than I already can, but I could also use the clones to start building my organization faster.
I would need many things, such as a base, resources, people, and clones, allowing me to look for those without issue. Even though they can't take damage, they would be incredibly useful.
There's another thing that would prove beneficial, but I had to be careful about it. As Jiraiya's description said, he was the toad sage and had the methods to mastering nature chakra. That meant I could help others become sages if I shared the information.
This knowledge was incredibly dangerous since sages were much stronger than others due to their connection with nature. While in Naruto, sages would strengthen by several times, sages here were different.
Sages in DxD were something only yokai could become once they truly mastered Senjutsu. Jiraiya's knowledge, however, gave a way for other races to become sages, though I had no intentions of sharing it with others for now.
Becoming a sage meant connecting with the world on a deep level. It gave the sage a permanent boost, increasing regeneration and strengthening their body and magic.
The only currently living sage was Sun Wukong, who worked for Indra.
Within the thousands of years of supernatural existence, the number of sages could be counted on one hand with fingers to spare.
While there have been hundreds of ultimate-class yokai, dozens of supreme-class, and several transcendent-class, only three have ever been sages.
The first two sages, despite their importance, were almost lost to history, having existed before Sun Wukong became a sage. Though their existence is documented, little is known about the two sages since they were solitary.
The first sage was a nekomata who reached ultimate-class, though most believe they were a nekoshou. It is unknown what happened to them, but most believe that an angry god killed them.
The second sage was an oni who only reached high-class, which is surprising considering most onis' personalities. Before the oni became a sage, he was a fighter, and fighting was how he gained sagehood. He fought everything in his way, including the world's negative energy, which one purifies to become a sage. After he reached sagehood, he challenged a god before dying.
If Jiraiya allowed me and others to become sages, everything would change.
Without her connection to Kyoto's leylines, Yasaka is only advanced supreme-class, but the connection makes her beginner transcendent.
However, if she became a sage, everything would change tremendously.
Her connection to the leyline would disappear. She would no longer be restricted to Kyoto, though she could still use the leyline to strengthen herself. She could connect to the world as a sage, effectively turning herself into a leyline.
Even if weakened slightly, Yasaka would still be a transcendent-class being, putting her on par with most major faction leaders, and like them, she could move as she pleased.
The opening in the leylines would also allow another yokai to connect to them and raise their strength to transcendent-class.
A transcendent-class able to leave their territory would already make yokai a higher-level faction, but creating a second one would place them at a similar strength to devils.
The best part was that since I could train whoever I wanted to become a sage, I could train all yokai clan leaders in the supreme-class, potentially making multiple transcendent-class fighters.
Even with their lower numbers, yokai would be practically untouchable by then. The only factions with that many high-level fighters were the Hindu pantheon, split between Indra and Shiva.
That said, there was always the chance that my sage method might not work, so it wasn't a guaranteed solution, but my gut told me it would.
It was safe to say that Jiraiya was my favorite gacha pull, and I was happy I was assimilating him.
Speaking of assimilating, I have assimilated many characters over the last two months.
I finished Lelouch after the first week, before assimilating Pakku.
His ability to bend water and Laxus' lightning magic created a deadly combination I wasted no time working on.
After two weeks of training in waterbending, I fully assimilated Pakku.
The next assimilation I chose was the Hound from RWBY. It gave me many physical transformations that I could fight with and the ability to sense negative emotions, which was incredibly useful for sensing nearby people.
The Hound took longer than Pakku to master, though, since most of its abilities were transformative.
However, the ability that took the longest to use was its Silver eyes, which were the antithesis to its nature as a being of darkness.
After training, I could use my silver eyes without transforming into the Hound and hurting myself.
After the month to assimilate the Hound, I chose a few easier ones with Scott Summers, Camilo Madrigal, and David Shield.
They all took a similar amount of time, with David taking the longest due to his scientific knowledge.
I also had problems when assimilating Scott, having to use my second weakness removal card to fix the issues he had with his eyes.
That all leads back to now. I was training myself to use Jiraiya's shinobi skills properly.
I had recently finished the leaf-sticking exercise and was about to work on the tree walking exercise when Tsubaki entered the barrier with an urgent look on her face.
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Omake: Excalibur Thief 12
[Francisco POV]
As the expedition kept moving through the jungle, the thunderbird followed us, specifically me, after it was fully healed.
Seeing that he wouldn't leave, I uncreatively decided to call him Sparky, though he did seem to like the name.
While traveling through the jungle, we encountered dozens of magical beasts, but only a few were the group's current targets.
The first beast we went after was called a pyralisk. It was a crocodile-like beast that mostly stayed on land. It was 50% larger than a regular crocodile, with knife-like teeth.
The one we were hunting had been getting too close to one of the paths that native tribes use and had killed a few people.
As a few tribe members snuck up to it, they all jumped simultaneously, activating their weapons' magic to enhance their strikes.
The attacks all landed on it, but unfortunately, all that happened was that it woke up.
The rest of the tribe joined in, releasing their attacks and finally causing some damage, though not much.
The pyralisk, now fully awake, charged toward the nearest tribe member. They moved back, but the pyralisk was faster than a regular crocodile, so it kept pace.
During this time, the others had all been attacking the pyralisk with all their might, but it shrugged off most attacks.
Eventually, the leader overcharges his staff, before leaping onto the beast's back, and slamming it down onto its neck.
The pyralisk, which had just clamped its jaw on the hand of the man it was chasing, released it, crying out in pain from the attack.
The leader then grabbed some stuff from his pouch, threw it into the pyralisk's mouth, and ran.
Seconds later, the pyralisk's face erupted in flames, while the leader drew a sword and stabbed it through the brain before it could react.
While the other tribe members harvested the corpse, I used the shroud again to heal the injured man.
After finishing the pyralisk, we moved further into the jungle, defeating other beasts such as a gloomwretch, a boomslang, and even a tarangansi.
Putting a few of their materials into my blender, I got abilities such as spore creation, vine manipulation, and poisonous spines.
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Author's Note:
I know this chapter was a bit of an info dump about the gacha, but I planned on this time skip a while ago so I could move on from the constant training. Now I can focus more on fights and exploration, rather than another, Hajime trains and fights a rogue, which I've been doing so far.
Also, the order I revealed the gacha was not the order that Hajime got everything. I just chose the order for drama.
This story has also gotten over 2500 collections and almost half a million views. Thank you all for the support; it means a lot.
Thanks for reading; I'll see you next time!