(Sirzechs POV)
Sirzechs watched Sam walk over to the crowd of women, with a half smile.
Grayfia stepped beside him. "You seem satisfied."
Sirzechs let out a huff of amusement. "Yeah. I am. Because that kid isn't even close to his peak."
Grayfia stayed silent, only looking at Sam then back at her husband. "His armor changed."
Nodding, Sirzechs said. "It did. My best guess is that the transformation during the Rating Game shifted something within him."
"And is that a good something?"
Sirzechs hummed in thought. "Probably. He seemed distracted in the spar. But he has a lot of energies battling for dominance."
"Holy, Touki, and Mana."
Sirzechs nodded. "I felt something else, but it seemed… off. Nothing exactly supernatural. Just his final strike held more physical power than I thought."
"Reinforcement?"
"No. Not that. At least not with the energies I knew of."
Grayfia looked over at Sam again. "Could it have been draconic?"
"If it was, I would have felt it. But whatever it is, it seemed strong, especially with his monstrous physical strength."
Now it was Grayfia's turn to hum in thought. "Does it complement or complicate his already tangled energy pools?"
"That… is a tough call. Usually Touki might explain what I felt, but I already was prepared for that enhancement."
Sirzechs continued, "I think, whatever it is, might be similar enough to Touki to influence it if he understands both."
Grayfia nodded. "The less energies he has in competition, the stronger he'll be."
"Which is why I said the kid has a way to go to reach his peak."
Sirzechs clicked his tongue as he looked over at Sam who was surrounded by ORC members and Sam's allies. "And like all great powers in the world, it surrounds itself in lovers."
Grayfia joined in looking over. "He does seem to have a way to draw you. Make you look a second more."
"I guess he does, He's got most of them smitten and probably too guilty to act on it."
Grayfia finally let out a laugh. "You'd be surprised."
***
(Rias POV)
Rias was packing her things, looking around her room that had seen much of her life but also the last few weeks.
The short congratulatory aftermath of her brother's test had nearly everyone praise or ask Sam questions.
He had answered some but let the praise wash off with a slight smile.
Rias unconsciously smiled at the memory.
Sam's still Sam…
She stopped for a moment, touching her face at the smile. Brother approved even before his test. He just needed an excuse. And Sam gave him the best one.
Her face turned red at the next thoughts. And that means he's my fiancé. He never said no. Even went through hoops to meet expectations for it.
Letting out a sigh, she looked at her clothes again. Would he like those? Or does he like…
Deciding on both, Rias started packing her favorite clothes along with lingerie that she thought Sam would like. He looked at me when we had that midnight talk. So maybe he did like those.
Her thoughts then drifted to this morning. But he seemed to like nothing as well…
Her face deepened in color as her hands packed faster.
Well, it doesn't matter, I'll have time to figure out his exact tastes. But it would be easier if he was more like other boys.
She closed one bag. If he was more like other boys, would he still be Sam?
She didn't dwell on that. Just placed her bags along with the others and finally started moving out to meet the others.
Well, Sam is different like that, which is why the others also like him. Just the dense guy doesn't realize it… or maybe he does. Which is worse.
She opened her door. That's all for the future us to figure out. For now, I'll just focus on me and him.
***
(Sam PoV)
Sam landed on the manor's floor sigil with grace this time. "Well, enough teleportation and you finally start landing well."
Yumi snorted, then covered her face embarrassed. "Only took you half a dozen times."
Some of the girls laughed, Esdeath gave a sly smile while Tiche already stepped off the sigil.
Koneko stepped off after her and Akeno shot Sam a look. "Well, back in the human world, how does it feel?"
"The manor still makes me think this is just some part of the estate."
Rias turned. "Well, it shouldn't. I spent time keeping it Japanese inspired."
Sam took a second to look around, stepping off the sigil. "I guess I can see it?"
Rias gave him a smile as the rest of the girls stepped off the sigil. "Your 'friend' will have a room, the manor is big enough for it."
Esdeath snorted. "Bold of you to just assign me a room… but go ahead have someone guide me to it."
Akeno gave a forced smile. "I guess that'll be me."
Esdeath smirked. "Oh… you? Your friend said I was the worse you."
She stepped to Akeno reaching for her chin–
Sam reached out grasping her wrist before it made contact. "Don't."
Esdeath glanced towards Sam. "Fine. I won't. for now."
She pulled her hand away, slightly surprised she couldn't just pull out of Sam's hold.
He released her wrist. "Not just 'for now'. Go to your room. Sleep. We'll talk in the morning."
"My my, so bossy" Esdeath turned, walking away. "C'mon Devil Girl show me to my room."
Akeno looked at Sam, blowing a kiss before leading Esdeath out. "I'll see you later, Sam-kun~"
The room was just left with Sam and Rias as others slowly went to their rooms.
Sam grabbed his bag. "Everyone hurried off. They must be tired."
Rias nodded but her ears went red as she realized she was alone. "It seems so, are you going to bed as well?"
"I'll definitely be heading to my room, I don't know about sleep yet."
Rias nodded again. "Okay, I'll be going to my room to drop off my bags then."
She walked off before Sam could say goodnight.
Sam was already feeling her embarrassment but he was unsure the source, so he just sighed and walked to his room.
Walking through the halls, he recalled the last 3-ish weeks. Rias, the Rating Game, training, Akeno, and the Test.
Crazy, but it's just a ramp up from before, it couldn't get much worse, right?
Once his door clicked shut, he tossed the bag into a chair, pulling up the system.
—
[For passing Sirzechs Lucifer's test and gaining his interest, Host has gained one Platinum Item Ticket]
[Would Host like to roll?]
[Yes/No]
—
Of course it gave a ticket. But I don't get Item tickets often. Let's roll.
—
[🎲… Rolling Platinum Item Ticket…]
[Tome of the Starscourge]
|Elite Item|
(Tome)Elden Ring - A magical tome containing the studies and records of Radahn the Starscourge, allowing its reader to study it to learn and harness his gravity magic.
—
Sam blinked. Elden Ring… that's the game Tiche is from. Maybe I can give this to her.
He summoned the book to his hand. It felt hefty, the pages and cover had a feel to them as if they held something beyond what he could understand.
Definitely going to Tiche. Her craft is basically perfected, I'm sure she'd love to expand it.
As he sent the book back into the system space, there was a knock on the door.
"Sam? Are you still awake?"
Sam tilted his head at the door. "Rias?"
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Quick P*treon note:
The $5 tier has been updated. It will now have access to 10 chapters ahead of public releases across my active novels.
The current active novels are:
DXD: Hero X Gacha
MHA: Bond Resonance
P*treon: https://www.p*treon.com/Alex_DLC000
Thank you all for the support.