Story 1: Chapter 1: That time I reincarnated as a What! (Patreon)

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Title: That time I reincarnated as a Mob Character.

Chapter 1: That time I reincarnated as a What!

- ?? –

I opened my eyes and felt a heavy weight on top of me. I am pretty sure that I was….

Where was I again?

I couldn’t remember everything clearly.

I went to sleep and then….and then now I am here.

What is this place?

I lay aside my thoughts in favour of pushing off the weight on top of me.

Not being able to breathe properly was not facilitating my thinking capabilities.

It was weird.

What even was this?

I touched the weight and suddenly a terrifying pit formed in my stomach.

I felt an arm.

I was limp.

There was no feeling of….life in it.

A severe chill ran down my spine as I scrambled and pushed aside the….whoever was on top of me.

The body, while heavy, rolled down and fell aside with a thump and I quickly crawled away, almost stumbling from the now visible dead man.

His blood was almost dry on the floor and on me.

But he was not alone.

No.

There was another person beside him who was covering me.

A woman.

I looked at my hands and they were dyed crimson.

I felt my heart beating faster as I struggled to breathe.

I quickly tried to wipe it off of my hands but it had dried already. I rubbed my hands on my clothes only to realize that my clothes were the same.

I was soaked in their dried blood.

I tried to call out but found out that I couldn’t speak. Hysteria attack was making me unable to form any thoughts.

I tried desperately to control my breathing but at that moment I realized something, my body….it was much smaller.

I looked at my hands again and they looked like that of a child.

I touched myself all over and it was as if I had shrunk into the form of a child.

No.

I couldn’t feel the scar on the side of my forehead, nor were there any stitches on my arm from the time I had an accident. This….

I looked around the house and saw that it had almost collapsed on one side.

The house was relatively unharmed on the other side though.

The house’ interior was dark but I could still see everything inside the house very clearly.

There was a mirror on the other side of the room and I headed towards the mirror dreading the scene that awaited me there.

The face I saw on the other side of the mirror was that of a purple haired, purple eyed boy.

I looked around the unharmed part and saw a picture of the man and woman with a child and felt my heart clench tightly.

They were….

Looking at the picture, I saw the resemblance of the people with my new face. The man had black hair but bluish purple eyes and the woman had lovely purple hair.

I tried looking around desperately trying to find out where I was.

I went to the window and tried to stare out of the house.

The sky was….purple.

There was a huge moon in the sky but it seemed so unnatural.

I looked around and saw smoke rising out from the few houses sparsely dotting the area.

Suddenly a sense of powerlessness overwhelmed me and I slumped onto the ground with a thump.

Is this?

Am I really?

No.

This must be a big nightmare.

Yes.

I will wake up in a while. Probably someone at home will notice me seizing up and wake me.

Nightmares like these can happen sometimes. Isn’t this what we call a Lucid Dream?

Something that feels so real that we cannot even differentiate it from what is true and what is a dream.

Yes. I will close my eyes and this will disappear.

I will just close my eyes.

“Just close my eyes and get my mind to the right status.”

A blue screen appeared in front of me and I scrambled back almost in shock looking at the screen that looked almost as if out of a sci-fi.

Host: Elias Rimmon

Body: 2

Mind: 4

Spirit: 3

Magic: 2

I tried to touch the screen but my hand passed through it.

I tried again but to the same result.

Getting frustrated I punched the screen but my hands passed through the screen and hit the side of the wall, scratching my hand accidentally.

“AHH….”

I grabbed my hand back, caressing it softly with my other hand.

It was then I realized something.

I felt pain.

There were even some scratches on my hand.

This….this was not a dream.

Apparently that was more than enough to overwhelm my mind.

I fainted.

- Scene Change –

I slowly opened my eyes due to the light from the window.

I woke up to a white ceiling this time.

I remembered the situation I was in before fainting and raised my hands to look at them, hoping it to have been just a dream.

….

It wasn’t.

“The boy’s awake. Call for the doctor.” I heard a voice shout but I was too busy trying to collect myself to know what was happening.

Everything was so surreal.

Is this? Am I in someone else’s body?

What was that purple sky?

Am I even in the same world?

I felt a lump in my throat as I realized that I couldn’t return back home.

A sob escaped me as I realized the situation I was in.

Tears ran down my eyes as I laid on the bed thinking about my current situation.

I sensed a hand on my forehead and stopped.

“It’s fine, child. You are safe. I am sorry about your parents. We didn’t get the information until it was too late. No one in the area survived. Those accursed Fallen!”

!!!!

The who?

I slowly turned towards the man.

He was a relatively young looking man, in his twenties or at most thirties.

“It was a Fallen Angel raid on the village.  There were no survivors except you. I think they didn’t notice you because you were covered by your parents. Sigh.”

I was thinking about something else entirely.

Fallen Angels? What the hell?

“By the way, do you remember anything? Their faces, how many of them there were? It would help the Lady and her peerage take care of the situation and avenge the dead.” He asked, looking at me but my mind was racing at a high speed.

Fallen Angels? Peerage?

“Do you remember anything child?” he asked looking at my blank face.

I just shook my head.

I didn’t even know the name of this body’s parents.

What was my name again?

I think the blue screen had a name on the top.

How did it come again?

Ah….status.

“Child?”

I jumped back slightly at the call and the blue screen suddenly appearing on my face.

Host: Elias Rimmon

Body: 2

Mind: 4

Spirit: 3

Magic: 2

He put a hand on my head and I felt a light appear in his hand. A magic circle of sorts appeared in front of me as he did something.

I stiffened up but didn’t move.

“Extreme shock and mental trauma as expected of a survivor of such an incident. There is also physical and magical exhaustion. Do you remember anything, child? You don’t have to force yourself. Just nod. If not then it’s fine.”

I whispered the name on the screen, partly to check if it was really mine and partly to hear my own voice clearly.

“Elias Rimmon.”

The doctor paused for a bit and picked up a file. He turned the pages and then nodded to me. “That seems to be your name. Elias Rimmon. Anything else?”

I shook my head.

I didn’t know anything?

“Well. Anything for example your parents name or the name of the place you stayed in was?”

I shook my head again.

He sighed lightly and then patted my head. “I am sorry for forcing this on you. It’s just that we could have used the information in case that group was planning any more attacks. I am sorry for your loss. My name is Aaron Brandt, a Mid Class Devil. You can also call me Doctor Brandt. Take some rest and inform the nurse if you have any problems.”

I barely managed to nod my head.

He kept the file beside me and left.

I sat there organizing the information that I had managed to collect.

Fallen Angels, Peerage, Mid Class Devil.

Purple sky.

This was all so similar to that one Light Novel I had read.

It was that damned show with overpowered nutjobs with the common sense of a tapeworm.

Nah, it couldn’t be. That was just a story.

….

Just to check my theory, I quietly looked side to side and saw no one and whispered in a barely audible voice to myself.

“God.”

Oww dammmmmmn!

I held my head and felt faint just by uttering God.

It was as if I was hit by a sledgehammer.

A burning hot sledgehammer.

It almost caused me to faint again but the pain kept me awake.

Dammit. It didn’t hurt that bad from what I remembered.

Wasn’t it supposed to just hurt a bit?

I laid down quietly thinking about my current situation while the pain subsided.

It was….I was in hell, wasn’t I?

I had somehow transmigrated into the body of a child.

Into what was probably the world of a Light Novel I had read in my past life?

The pain subsided after a few minutes and I looked around.

The hospital room was a small one and almost bare. Just a simple table with fruits or whatever it was, my file and a case with medicines and water.

I picked up the file.

The language however was not something I knew. I hadn’t inherited any memories from this body.

Apparently things were not going to be so convenient.

I sighed and kept the file back.

What am I even to do in this world?

Why was I sent here?

I didn’t know that either.

Was there a way back?

….

Yeah, fat chance.

I lied down and contemplated what to do from this point on.

After a while I took a fruit from the table and ate to recover some energy.

I had no idea what would become of me or if I would even be able to get food from here on out.

Soon after, the exhaustion caught up with me again and I fell asleep.

I tried to get up and felt slight pain in my body. I had no idea how long I was asleep for.

There was no light outside the window. It was probably night time. Although, it was hard to tell with the purple sky and my new night vision.

I got up on my feet again and went to the window.

It seemed like a much better residential area compared to where I was before. The area looked like a city whereas my previous home looked like a small village-side settlement.

The purple sky looked weird even when looking at it a second time.

I sighed and got back sitting on my bed and closed my eyes.

Meditation helped my mind. It was a habit that my family had hammered into me since childhood.

Empty the mind and deep breaths.

Thirty minutes later, I had a clear enough mind to think about the current situation.

I had a basic plan in mind.

I do not know what will happen to me when I am released from this hospital or how to even pay for this treatment. Hell I didn’t even know how I came here in the first place.

If I am released, I don’t know who to rely on to support me.

Where to live, what to do to eat?

The only things I had with me are probably my memories which could be an object of danger to me if discovered. I am not even sure if the memories I have are relevant to this place or what time period this is or if it was even really the world I know of though. The only clue I had was the huge moon in the sky and the word peerage which meant that the Evil Pieces had already been invented at this point in time.

The second part that I have going in my favour is whatever this blue screen is.

Is it like a Gamer System?

Weren’t those things supposed to be really strong or something?

Status.

I called inside my mind and this time with a slight preparation, I was able to avoid the shock and not stumble.

Host: Elias Rimmon

Body: 2

Mind: 4

Spirit: 4

Magic: 2

Hmm?

There was an increase in the Spirit Stat.

I tried to think about it and suddenly the Spirit Stat was highlighted and a + sign appeared beside every other Stat except Spirit.

I thought of touching the Body Stat and the Body Stat increased to 3 while the Spirit stat was back to three.

I felt an immediate growth in my body. The outside looks were the same but I felt my power increase a lot.

Considering that it went from 2 to three, it was supposed to be a 50% increase but not quite. Still it was a lot.

The pain in my body also subsided a lot.

Now how did I gain that extra Spirit?

Was it through meditation?

There is no help button.

System?

….

Nope, no reply.

I decreased another one from Mind and put it to body and felt an increase in my strength again although I felt slightly sluggish. It was like my mind was slowed so I returned it back to the Mind Stat.

The last thing I need right now is a dulled mind.

The Spirit stat increased. Was it because I had recovered from the injury or that my soul had assimilated into this body?

Body was easy to understand.

Mind was also evident clearly.

Magic was more or less clear as well.

Spirit stat was the mysterious one.

Also if Spirit increased, does it mean I can train other stats to increase as well?

And what about magic?

Thinking about it more clearly, I decided not to bother with magic now. Experimenting with unknown esoteric energies without knowing anything about it doesn’t help.

Body can be increased with exercise. My body had just recovered and I don’t think I should exert my body more at this time.

Mind, I don’t know. Puzzles or something. Not really available.

Spirit is the only one left to train.

“What do I even do for that God dammit….ahhhhhh.”

I fell down clutching my head.

The pain.

This is the fucking underworld?

Why was his name effective here of all places?

Can’t he let the Devils live in peace?

I mean I was not even a devil dammit.

I clutched my head for a while and tried to breathe deeply.

I think I should keep my words to a minimum lest I use his name again.

Getting smacked in the head myself is fine but if others get the same pain, they might not take it well.

Moreover, a devil using his name was….a bad sign maybe.

The pain went away in a few minutes and I sat down and began to meditate again.

I took a look at the clock on the wall. It showed one hour.

Status

Host: Elias Rimmon

Body: 3

Mind: 4

Spirit: 4

Magic: 2

It was raised again.

So meditation helped to increase the Spirit stat.

That was all I needed to know.

Even with my years of practice, meditating for more than two hours at a stretch was a bit too much. So I could only do it for another hour before I checked and I had another point in Spirit, increasing it to five.

I took this chance to eat the rest of the fruits, filling my stomach and preparing for anything that might come.

It was almost dawn by then when I heard a sound on the door. The door opened and the doctor returned.

“I see that you are up. How have you been feeling?

I nodded my head slowly.

“Good. Let’s see how you are then.” He created a magic circle and a wave of light flashed over my body. “The body has recovered quite nicely. You can get discharged in a day. You will have to give a statement about the attack though. Do you remember anything?”

I shook my head again.

“Did you remember anything at all?” he asked again, a little worried this time.

I shook my head again.

“So a case of amnesia. Maybe due to shock or mental trauma. There were no physical injuries. No signs of magical attacks either.” He murmured to himself and then turned back to me. “I will inform the investigator. Be respectful. She is a Peerage Member of the Lady who rules over this entire area. She was also the one who brought you here and paid for your hospital charges. Be sure to thank her.”

I nodded to him quietly.

“Good. I will get you some health supplements. Eat these after the next meal.”

I nodded and after a few more checkups, he left.

I went back to my grinding while thinking about the new information I had learned.

This ‘She’ was someone who brought me here and she was the peerage member of the Lady of this entire surrounding lands.

She paid for the expenses.

So either she wants something from me or she is one of those rare kind ones.

I tried to throw in another Mediation session but two and a half hours of meditating made my body very sluggish.

The doctor said that my body had recovered so I could do some light exercises.

I decided to do just that.

After some light stretching, I did some sit ups and crunches. Push Ups were still a bit hard for my young body to do.

After being exhausted, I sat back for some meditation again.

Thirty minutes later, the door was opened and I broke out of my trance.

The nurse had come with a plate of food and some medicine.

She instructed me to eat those and be ready for the investigator to arrive and then started to clean the room.

I took the opportunity to eat the bread and whatever soup it was. It did have some meat in it.

After the meal, I took the opportunity to go to the toilet and get refreshed. The nurse had given me a set of clothes to wear to prepare for the investigator’s arrival.

I then sat and waited for the investigator.

- Scene Change –

I heard the door open and looked up to see a purple haired woman or rather girl, enter the room followed closely by the doctor.

Her hair was of a much lighter shade than mine and she had orange eyes.

I stared at her but then looked at the doctor giving me a slight glare and I remembered his warning, bowing quickly.

I looked up and saw the doctor was satisfied and nodded to me from behind her.

The girl gave me a slight nod too as she looked at the nurse who quickly left the room after bowing to her.

She looked back at me and said, “I’m sorry for reminding you of painful things but can you please tell me about anything you remember? It will help us catch the bad people who attacked your village.” She said in a very soft voice. She had a very beautiful voice, I thought.

I looked up at her and then at the doctor and then back at her and shook my head.

The doctor took the opportunity to explain. “My Lady, he….the child seems to have locked away his memories. He doesn’t seem to remember anything except his name. Not even his family, or his parent’s name. Such cases are normal in case of serious trauma. I have already checked and there are no signs of mental manipulation. Moreover, it is highly unlikely that they would resort to that. I could have tried to hypnotize him to try and bring back his memories but it is inadvisable in such cases. It may cause more harm than good to the child if that is done since his magic will react violently to protect his mind and prevent those stressful memories from being released.”

The Lady listened to everything the doctor said while I merely tried to keep my gaze on the ground. She gave me a look of pity.

“Were any relatives found?” she asked the doctor.

“No my Lady. The child was alone. He lived with his parents and from what we have in our reports; his grandparents had died in the civil war. The couple were trying to have a child for over four centuries and finally succeeded eight years ago with little Elias being the one. They owned a piece of land near their house and also had farmland. His father, Julius Rimmon had recently been promoted to Mid Class Devil around a decade ago while his mother Stella Rimmon was still preparing for the Promotion exams. The family mainly dealt with vegetables and some demonic beasts reared to cultivate the land. No past criminal records. A completely normal small family.”

It did give me a lot of information about the situation.

“The leftovers?” she asked again.

“We had sent people to collect whatever was left in the town and also in the child’s house. His family owned an account in the bank and a reasonable savings to last him a few years. The same was the case with other families which have been exterminated. The land was fine but the crops were all burned down and the beasts were killed. We have salvaged everything from the town we could. We just cannot send the child there alone. He wouldn’t survive.” The doctor added.

She took the file and studied it for a while.

I was quite tense as this would be the moment that decides my future.

The Lady thought for a while and then looked at the doctor. “The money from the village and everything except the land, liquidate all of it and send the funds to his account. I and my people made a mistake which caused the Fallen to slip through. Normally this money would go to the state and me as the ruler of this territory being assigned by my King so I can make this decision.” She then looked towards me and bowed slightly. “I am sorry, Elias.”

I shook my head quickly.

“I-it’s okay. T-thank you for saving me.”

She however shook her head. “No, it was your parents who saved you. They took on the Fallen Angel’s light spear directly through their bodies and covered for you. Never forget their sacrifice Elias.”

I nodded my head slowly.

The doctor was quiet while looking at the scene.

“As for him living, send him to my mansion’s servant quarters. He can stay there as it is unused till he is old enough to care for himself. I will inform the head servant.”

I bowed to her upon hearing this. “Thank you My Lady.”

She patted my head and got up slowly and after giving me one last look, she left.

The doctor followed her soon.

I slumped down to my seat at the turn of events.

I really owed it to the Lady whose name….I didn’t even know yet.

I didn’t have to wait much as the doctor soon returned. This time with another woman who looked to be in her forties and wore a French maid uniform.

“This is the child.” The doctor pointed towards me.

She looked towards me and nodded to the doctor.

“My Lady has explained to me about your arrangements. You will be released from the hospital tomorrow and I will send a maid to receive you. I will explain the rest when you reach the mansion.” She spoke in a stoic and no-nonsense tone.

I nodded and bowed slightly.

She turned and instructed the doctor about something that I didn’t hear and left.

He then entered the room and ruffled my hair. “You don’t even realize how lucky you are son. To be allowed to stay in that place? No men are allowed in that mansion. It is expressly reserved for the Lady and her fellow peerage members. There aren’t even male servants. You would probably be the only guy even allowed to go into the place even if it is only a servant’s quarters.” He smiled at me.

I didn’t understand what the big deal was but there was something more important that I wanted to ask him before anything.

“Sir.”

“Hmm.”

“I-I don’t know the Lady’s name or….anything else. Umm….could you please tell me the name of my savior?” I asked the man who had a bit of a shock on his face and then he slapped his head.

“Oh yes. I forgot about that. Okay here child, hmm, Elias. Sit. Let me tell you a bit about things. It’s my break time anyways.”

He sat beside me and explained. “The Lady who came with you was Lady Ingvild Leviathan. She is the granddaughter of the Original Satan Leviathan and one of the strongest Devils in the Underworld. There are rumors that she is even stronger than Lady Serafall who is the current Leviathan but Lady Ingvild is not the type who likes fighting so there have never been any challenges between the two.”

He then went on to explain more about how she was in-charge of the territory while my mind was whirling into something else entirely.

Ingvild Leviathan. I knew that name. She was the Granddaughter of the Original Leviathan who had a Sacred Gear rivaling a Longinus. She had been a victim of the Sleeping Disease for about a century before she had woken up somehow. She however had appeared after Trihexa was sealed and Serafall and other two Satans along with her.

But according to what he says, Serafall has been outside and Ingvild, it seems, has never fallen victim to the sleeping sickness in the first place.

“Umm, Sir. Who is the King that she mentioned?”

“Ah….yes. The King is Lady Grayfia Lucifuge. She is the owner of the entire borderlands and Lady Ingvild is her Bishop. We are only safe in these parts because Lady Lucifuge guards the borders and deals with any invasions or even slight attacks with extreme viciousness. She also is very kind to the people living in the Borderlands and our taxes are the lowest among all the territories of the Underworld. She is one of the Heroes of the Civil War and had even fought against Serafall Leviathan for the position of Leviathan back when the new Satans were elected. She had lost unfortunately but that doesn’t make her contribution any lower.”

My mind was however chaotic.

What the hell?

Grayfia Lucifuge?

What the fuck?

Wasn’t she like….you know, married to Sirzechs or something?

Why was she here guarding the Borderlands?

“Sir.”

“Hmm?”

“Who is Lord Lucifuge then? Is Lady Grayfia married?”

He quieted down and then and then muttered in a whisper “If not for those rumors….” He suddenly quieted down realizing what he had spoken and shook his head. The jovial man’s face looked like it had just eaten a fly. “Listen Elias. Lady Lucifuge is our ruler. She has done too much for the Borderlands and treats us as her own family. She might seem aloof but she is a very caring person. So….if you hear any rumors, especially now that you are going to live in that mansion, don’t ever believe them.” He spoke in a serious voice and I nodded hurriedly. “As for your question. Lady Lucifuge is not married. She….has had a bad history with someone and has since then avoided any and all men. There have been several hundreds of men who have proposed to her for marriage but she just rejected them all. There is no Lord Lucifuge and only Lady Grayfia is the sole survivor of the Lucifuge House. You are going to that mansion so remember this fact well. Never speak of other men, especially Sirzechs Lucifer there.”

….

I had understood one thing by then and that was that I had no idea about this world.

Sirzechs and Grayfia are not married but somehow Sirzechs is a forbidden subject in the place as well.

“You don’t need to worry about those things now. Lady Ingvild is probably one of the kindest people you could have encountered. I don’t think anyone else would have given you this opportunity. I also serve as the doctor of the servants of the mansion and thus know Mrs. Berta Colls, the Head Maid of the mansion. She is my second cousin to be exact. In any case, if you need any help, you can contact me. I will give your bank and money details to Berta. I don’t think you were admitted to any schools, were you?”

“I….I don’t think so Sir. I couldn’t read the letters in the book.” I pointed towards the file.

“Hmm, I see. In that case, it would be better if you get admitted. Your village’s savings are enough for you to be admitted to a school and continue until you complete your studies to get a job. Learning the basics at the very least is necessary so that you don’t get tricked by anyone.”

I nodded and we chatted for an hour or so.

He seemed like a good man.

I got to learn many things from him.

He was a thousand years old.

He had seen the end of the Great War and the entirety of the Civil War. His child and wife had both passed away in the Civil War. They died due to not receiving treatment at the right time.

He has studied medicine since then so that he could save the lives of other people.

To avoid others suffering the same way his child and wife did.

I found myself respecting the old man a bit.

I also got to learn about the devil society a bit and what I needed to focus on.

A plan formed in my mind as I finally had something to work with and a definite target in my mind now.

I spend the rest of the day, alternating between light exercises and meditation.

- Scene Change –

“This will be your living quarters. Now pay attention. You were allowed by Lady Ingvild to live here but that does not mean you are allowed into the mansion. The Servant Quarter you live in also has a door outside the compound and that is the one you will be using. If you need anything, you can inform me through the gate or other maids. Since you are staying here, you will be expected to take care of your own matters like cleaning and clothing. I will provide you with a certain amount of allowance from your accounts every month. In case of any purchase that goes beyond your allowance, you are required to inform me and I will accompany you to buy it. Am I clear on this?” She spoke very sternly. It was like one of my kindergarten teachers. Stern but quite caring. “Aaron has informed me that you haven’t been admitted to any schools before this. It will be done in a week and you can attend your classes from then on.”

I nodded again.

“The food will be delivered to you three times a day by a maid. It will be kept in your living room in case you are absent. You are not to allow anyone access to the house without permission. Am I clear on that?”

I nodded once more.

“Very well, in that case, you can go inside now. I will take my leave.” She did pause once more and added. “You will be staying in the mansion, even if not a staff member, you are expected to keep to a certain standard so as to not shame the name of the owners of the house. Keep this in mind. I will teach you proper manners to act in presence of those at a higher standing than you and you will do well to keep that in mind. Is that understood?”

I nodded but this time she didn’t have it.

“Answer with your words. It is impolite to not use words when questioned.”

“Y-yes Ma'am.”

“Good. You may take your leave now. There are some books in your room which have been prepared in advance. Use this week to make yourself familiar with them.”

This said she left for her work as I looked around the room.

It was a two bedroom quarters with a kitchen, bathroom and toilet and a small garden of sorts along the walls of the Mansion. The Mansion itself was ginormous. The gardens alone were around five hundred meters wide around each side of the mansion. It looked like a palace of sorts of olden times.

I shook my head and went inside the room. There were a few books on the book shelf as Berta had stated.

The system in the Underworld is very complicated, especially the promotions into higher classes.

The father of this body’s previous owner had worked for about five hundred years before he was promoted. The promotion was generally done through three means. First, you can make contracts.

This however was easier said than done.

Low Class Devils like me, yes, I am a Low Class Devil, the scrub of the scrub, cannot go into the human world and as such cannot make contracts except for very specific circumstances where they are taken as servants of High Class Devils who take responsibility for bringing them into the human world and look over them.

This was like winning a lottery.

Even then, a normal Low Class Devil would take a decade of dedicated deals to make it to the said mark of being recommended for a Middle Class Devil. Then after a recommendation from a High Class Devil, they are allowed to give an exam and upon succeeding, they are promoted to a Middle Class Devil.

The second method was well, catch the attention of a High Class and get recruited into a Peerage and fight Rating Games. If your team does well, you could become a Mid Class Devil in around half a decade at best.

There was also the case with merits for the Underworld which is what happened to the cast of the Light Novel that I had read. Participating in battles for the sake of the Underworld and you could get extra merits worth years of making deals and the decade long time can be shortened quite significantly.

The last one was for the natural born Low Class Devil like me and Stella and Julius Rimmon, this body’s parents. They have to sit for what is equivalent to a world-wide exam among the Low Class Devils all over the underworld. This exam is significantly harder than the normal Middle Class Devil Promotion Exams because there is no perquisite of making deals. It however is extremely strict and there are only about two thousand Middle Class Devils promoted every decade. That’s like two hundred per year more or less on average.

It is also costly.

Low Class Devils have a much lower earning power due to the shit tier educational facilities provided to the Underworld. They only teach the Low Class Devils how to do basic mathematics and how to read words so that they are not useless in day to day work. There are obviously schools for higher education but those are costly as fuck. It was one of the reasons Julius needed five centuries to pass the exams. The examination fees are expensive but the main cost comes from the schools. It was because he couldn’t afford to receive an education in these schools.

Those old bastards know that if the Low Class Devils are taught, they will rise much faster than their lazy asses could ever do so while they do not close all avenues due to the fear of revolt(they do need cannon fodder in case of the reincarnated devil protests), they make the promotion requirements near impossible for the common Low Class Devils.

It also happened to be 5 years till these examinations happened, well four and half to be exact and I intend to take part in the examinations.

As for the Middle Class Devils, they are allowed to participate in making deals in the Human World independently but they have to submit a part, thirty percent of their earnings to the government. They also have to apply for a license to do so and that part is expensive as well.

I shook my head at the fact that it normally takes five decades to around two centuries worth of Deal making, and that is by staying there for that period of time to make up for the requirements, to fulfill the requirements for being allowed to take the examination and that too only with the recommendation of another three High Class Devils or an Ultimate Class Devil.

Now, we come to the general education beyond basic Mathematics and words.

After the basic education, the people can take up apprenticeships, which let me mention are rare, under any working person and learn their crafts. They basically treat the recruit as a slave for a lack of better word more often than not. I was warned by Aaron to not sign any such contracts or they might bind me by law for centuries. Apparently there had been many such cases before and now such contracts cannot be binding for more than three hundred years by law unless under exceptional cases. The new government wanted to avoid such messes and minor revolts that were caused when High Class Devils forced the Low Class Devils like this.

Now they do it without any contracts.

There is also the alternative to take professional courses, which are again….expensive.

Really, the education line is always lucrative.

There is also the fact that except the children of the Pillar Devils and Ultimate Class Devils, every child born will be one rank lower than their parents or to be more specific, the parent having a lower rank.

So two Mid Class Devils marry, their child will be a Low Class Devil.

A High Class, non-pillar Devil marries a Mid Class Devil; their child will again be a Low Class Devil.

Two High Class non-pillar Devils marry each other and their child can be a Mid Class Devil.

So with the buttloads of new Reincarnated Devils coming up every year, there will probably never be any shortage of Low Class Devils.

The Low Class Devils cannot access high level magic normally. Sure they can be taught by others but legally they cannot purchase such magic or even apply for Advanced Magic Classes in the Underworld. The same goes for the purchases of many different things that can be termed as dangerous.

For now, I have a few short term goals.

First, figure out all the powers of my Status Screen and System.

Second, learn the words of the Devil Language.

Third, prepare for the examinations and become a Mid Class Devil.

Fourth, grind.

Yesterday’s grinding had increased my points to a reasonable level. That said from what the Doctor said, I am at the level of a Human Child at the moment.

Low Class Devils are supposed to be ten times stronger than that.

On an average, if I take a Human Adult’s Stats to be ten, then a Low Class Devil’s Stats would be one hundred.

I had no idea how high that range went but I wasn’t even a Low Class Devil yet and that quite literally sucked.

Then again I was an eight year old and I had time to become stronger.

I looked at my Stats once more.

Host: Elias Rimmon

Body: 4

Mind: 4

Spirit: 7

Magic: 2

I still have a long way to go to become someone significant in this world.

With that in mind I started with the books explaining the Devil alphabet that taught kids how to read.

- Two months later –

I mustered all my strength to push myself up for the last pushup before finally falling on the floor. I heaved on the floor, sweating profusely.

These two months have been very educating, especially after I somehow dealt with the shock of coming or rather being thrown into this world so suddenly.

The school was like a primary school in the human world, just worse. They were actually meant for children at least above sixteen. The teachers taught the alphabet and it was relatively easy.

It was ancient Hebrew apparently.

There were twenty two letters total in the alphabet.

The words were easier to pick up once I got the hang of it. Thankfully the number system was the same and once I learned the numbers, I was pretty much done. I had a degree in engineering in my previous life. I would jump off a cliff myself if I had any problems with this level of Math.

The style of teaching however was not suited at all for students. It was also evident why. There were only adults and I might have been the youngest one there. General Low Class Devils save their money by teaching their children how to read and write themselves.

I however had no such privilege.

While Berta did teach me manners and etiquette a few times a week when she came to inspect how I was taking care of the quarters, she didn’t teach me anything beyond it.

That said I didn’t fault the woman for it. She was already doing more than she was required to. She could have thrown me in a room for all I know and that would have been fine.

I had no idea what Ingvild did or said to her but the woman has been utterly professional and I could respect that.

On the other hand, her non-interference had helped me a lot.

It gave me time to indulge in whatever I wanted, which was grinding.

I discovered some things about my System which honestly make it a perfect training cheat.

The more we train, the more we advance but the harder it gets to advance too.

I however can bypass that scenario completely.

I can advance in a stat and reassign it to a Stat I am not training and train it back again. There is no increase in training time for me by doing so.

For example, I could exercise for an hour and gain a point in the Body Stat. The next point will take one hour and let’s say twenty minutes and the next one, another one hour and forty minutes or so.

This however is completely avoided if I reassign my earned point from Body to let’s say Mind or Spirit. The body’s level remains the same and there is no increase in the training time.

The High Class Devils of the Pillar Houses and the Satan Clans were truly privileged. They were born with stronger innate potential so that even if they don’t train, they can become a High Class Devil by adulthood. Their blood increases their body’s strength while their souls increase their magical potential.

I finally figured out the real use of the Spirit Stat. It increases the strength of my soul and the Magical Potential of the user.

This basically means that as long as I have a high enough Spirit Stat, my Magic Stat will passively grow to that level.

There were however many functions that I had no idea about or at least the relationship between the different Stats.

That said I was finally at the level of a Low Class Devil.

Host: Elias Rimmon

Body: 12

Mind: 187

Spirit: 180

Magic: 50

My stats if reassigned could have the stats for a decent Low Class Devil.

The reason why I haven’t put my stats in Body and Magic and instead Mind and Spirit were because Spirit increased the passive growth of Magic so I needed it at an all-time high because it helped me learn and remember things, concentrate, control my emotions and all other mental facilities.

High Level Magicians could launch insane amounts of magical attacks simultaneously. This does take magic obviously but it also takes mental power.

A high Mind Stat is always appreciated.

The second reason was more obvious.

The improvement in Body and Magic, especially Magic would be noticeable.

I don’t want to be noticed right now.

I did discover a strange thing though.

It was probably the fastest way of training three of my Stats at the same time. Any sane devil would have called me crazy but I could see the real-time effects of the method and thus I knew of its effectiveness.

It was to use ‘His’ name.

Yes.

Higher Spirit stat helped reduce the pain but the best effect was when my Spirit Stat was lower. The pain was hard to bear but I had tested and at 12 Spirit, after saying his name around a dozen times and bearing the pain in a short interval, after the pain subsided, I gained a Spirit Stat.

It was an incredible discovery.

It was accidental too.

I made a theory about it too.

Saying ‘His’ name helped was like a spiritual attack against all Devils.

The stronger the Devil, the stronger their souls and thus weaker the damage caused by said attack.

At around 100 in Spirit, the attack seemed like someone knocked my head with their knuckles. It was painful but not unbearable.

It did take around fifty to seventy such chants of ‘His’ name to increase my Spirit at that level.

My Demonic Power also helped to mitigate the damage and the pain and thus the increase in the Magic Stat.

The mental strain probably increased the Mind Stat.

This method is by far the fastest method to train any Stat I had.

It took ten minutes to net me a Spirit Stat but the only drawback was that my head hurt like hell. The pain subsided soon after when I transferred the stats back to the Spirit though so it was still something I frequently did.

I wonder what Michael would think if he found out about this method.

The System, God set to punish devils being used as a whetstone to make a Devil stronger.

Yeah, they would probably hunt me down just to clear out the shame.

I slumped on the chair and steadied my breath.

It was already 2 am. School and normal studies along with Berta’s lessons don’t quite leave much time for me to train. That said, knowing about the world is of the utmost importance. I cannot skive on that.

The Borderlands is the area which is basically its namesake, the area which separates the parts of the Underworld owned by the Devils and the Fallen Angels.

This means that there are often attacks and skirmishes, although never in the main cities like the one where I am staying, Bartol. It was a city under Ingvild Leviathan and unless the strongest Fallen Angels attacked this place, it would be a one-sided massacre of the Fallen to even think of such a thing.

Although Ingvild didn’t stay in this city, her strength and fame was more than enough to ensure its safety.

And I was staying in the mansion of such a person.

Obviously such a thing will attract attention.

And it did.

I was approached by people and even now am approached by people who ask about what it is like inside the mansion.

There were even shocking rumors that I might be a Leviathan Descendant, what with the hair colour I share with Ingvild although hers is of a much lighter shade.

It was not well known but Leviathan Descendants could only be girls so that was out immediately. But as I said, this information was not well known.

I found out about this from Dr. Aaron who visited me every once in a while. He has been working for the House for over a century now and was privy to such facts.

And there went all my hopes of having a cheat family power or lineage to rely on maybe.

Aaron has been very helpful to me because I listened to his stories. The man was a treasure trove of information and I have verified it many times. It is never wrong.

I had obviously denied everything and even explained my situation so as to not cause any problems and not attract unwanted attention towards me.

It worked for most of the people but still, there were some people who were still quite suspicious.

On the other hand, Aaron had helped me with other advice including a healthy diet, because I had no idea which ingredients are what in this place. This was when I told him about increasing my physical workout soon and wanted advice on what food to eat to help me. Apparently, demonic beast’s meat is good for the growth of Demonic Power. My family’s business did involve rearing some demonic beasts too.

These things are however difficult to get and thus very expensive.

I am however lucky as the food served in the mansion is also sent to me and I do get everything which they get, which is the best quality of food.

Apparently Berta did favour me in this way.

Aaron explained that she also lost her family in the Civil War. But unlike Aaron, she cut herself off from the rest of the world. Whereas Aaron dedicates himself to the people to prevent anyone from facing the same end as his family, Berta avoids getting close to anyone lest she lose them again.

With the incredibly long lives of Devils, such pain can be hard to deal with.

Another thing that Aaron helped me with was….Magic.

Yes, Magic.

As we know, Devil’s Magic is based on imagination. Just imagine and use power and you can have anything.

Well, that was utter BULLSHIT.

Sure, but that’s the same as saying the Sun is hot.

You don’t get an idea of exactly how hot it is until you study more.

Magic is still the force that drives the entire Devil Race in general. Even Low Class Devils are capable of magic and they know basic magic for their daily works.

The Profession Schools teach the people how to use magic suitable for their works too.

The main problem however is how to channel your magic.

Just like the wands of the Harry Potter world, Devils use Magic Circles as a focus. This enables them to easily call upon their Demonic Power as well as store some template spells.

Now, the Pillar Houses have Magic Circles refined for over a period of ten thousand years at the very minimum. Same is the case for the Satan Clans and Extra Demons.

The common folks like me however do not have this privilege.

We need to buy magic circles from the shops.

These circles are priced in terms of their efficiency which is normally 25% for a common one and 30-35% for a good Magic Circle which could take almost all the money that I currently have in my accounts and even then fail to make 10% of the price.

They are priced in literally hundreds of millions of Lilium, which is the currency of the Underworld’s Devil Race mainly.

Higher Ranked Magic circles are sold in auctions and they can have upto 40% efficiency.

The Pillar Devils are rumored to have Magic Circles which can achieve an efficiency of about 75% or above while Satan Houses are all above 85%.

Sure there are other ways to get better Magic Circles which is by becoming a servant to a High Class Pillar Devil and receive their version of the Servant’s Magic Circle which has about 50% efficiency or even better their Peerage Members and receive the same Magic Circle as the House members.

The last choice would be to make our own Magic Circles which requires the knowledge of Runes, Magical Theory, and many other things that are not available to anyone but High Class Devils for an insane price obviously. Hell, even Human Magicians are better off because they get offered a Magical Circle by their organization to make complex calculations and help them use their magic more proficiently. They even store some common spells inside them and those can be used as a quick slot.

The entire fucking system is rigged to keep the Low Class Devils suppressed and those in power to keep their positions.

It was one of the reasons I gave up learning magic as a priority right now because I didn’t have the resources for it so no point bothering my head. I did however make it a point to exhaust my Demonic Power every day to train my reserves. I may not have the knowledge for the spells but that doesn’t stop me from increasing my Magic Stat. I was taught some basic things by Aaron like basic Wind Magic.

Yes, Fire Magic is dangerous. Water Magic can make a mess. Earth Magic can be taxing. Wind Magic was the most proficient one to be taught to beginners as it doesn’t take too much power.

Now these basic spells were easy and they did work on the Imagination principle.

Just think about wind blowing and Will your Demonic Power to let that happen.

It was hard imagining everything to perfection, every fucking time because I didn’t have any Magic Circle to record the most efficient use.

The Mind Stat helped but not to the extent I wanted.

Reinforcement Magic was not recommended either because that needed knowledge of Devil Physiology. I didn’t have that.

So the most I could do was exhaust my Demonic Power by trying to make strong gusts of wind.

I did decrease my Magic Stat to around 12 for the process to be over soon. It did gain me a single point for every time I recovered.

There was also a slight passive increase in my Magic Stat from natural growth and another one due to my increased Spirit Stat and the training using ‘his’ name.

I plan to get a Magic Circle for myself when I complete my primary education and start on a Professional Class.

For now I could only grind in silence.

- Interlude –

- Grayfia Lucifuge –

“Was there any news about the Fallen attackers, Ingvild?” she asked, watching her bishop tending to the garden. Ingvild had always been the kind and peaceful one.

It sometimes pained her to even involve such a child in the politics of the Underworld but she didn’t have a choice. It was for both their safety.

The old bastards from the Great King Faction would eat her up and then have her have an accident or fall into sleeping sickness after they get a child out of her.

It was not as if she didn’t stop such a plan from happening once already.

“No. They had returned back to the Fallen Territory. We couldn’t give chase there.” She shook her head. “They killed everyone there, everyone except an eight year old. This child survived because his parents had covered him with their own bodies and he fainted during the attack. The Fallen might have assumed him to have died because of the blood and no movement and thus left the child alone.”

Grayfia slightly grimaced on hearing the news. She however quickly pushed her thoughts aside and asked her next question. “The child. Did he identify anyone? We could use the testimony to put pressure on Azazel to hand over the criminals.”

She observed Ingvild wince slightly. “He….he had lost his memories.”

Grayfia frowned. “Memory manipulation? Not likely. They would have killed the child if they had the opportunity, why wipe the memory? Injuries?”

“He….woke up bathed in the blood of his own parents. The child was in a traumatic state and according to the doctor, his brain just locked away the memories to protect him. The doctor said that any attempts to force it open will lead to his Demonic Power acting violently in self-defense and might possibly render the child brain-dead. He was….” she stared off into the distance and Grayfia didn’t ask her anything about it but gave her time to collect herself. “He had no one left. Not even neighbours. He didn’t recall anything except his name. Not even his parent’s name. Nothing. I….”

Grayfia sat beside her and caressed her hair, pulling her into her side.

“I apologized to him but….instead he thanked….thanked me for saving his life. I felt so disgusted at myself at that moment. A child was reassuring me.” She breathed in deeply and continued. “He….reminded me of myself when you saved me back then. He has purple hair and the same coloured eyes.”

Grayfia tightened her grip on her. She did remember how she had found her years ago. Her mother had passed away, hunted by her own family when she had refused to participate in the war and had married a human. Her father had covered for her but was still killed by the Fallen Angels who had discovered her whereabouts.

She had come upon a traumatized child by chance when her other bishop had investigated the Fallen attack there.

She continued, “I couldn’t do it, Grayfia. I couldn’t face him. If he had shouted at me for failing him, it might have been better. But the child didn’t have that ability. He….” She gulped down a lump in her throat and continued, “He had nowhere to go, so I gave him a place in the servant’s quarters in the mansion till he is old enough and instructed Berta to look after him. It was the least I could do after all.”

“You did the right thing.”

Grayfia might have lost faith in men, but that was a child and she understood why Ingvild would help him.

“Don’t worry. I will send the others to hunt for the Fallen who did this. I will not let them escape.”

With that said, she caressed the girl who she had come to see like a little sister till she soon fell asleep in her arms slowly.

She then proceeded to take her to the bed and let her rest in peace.

She had noticed that Ingvild didn’t seem to be herself when she had returned. This was why she had taken to asking what had happened this time or cases like these that happened once in a decade normally. It wouldn’t have been the first time.

“I hope you heard about that?” She questioned when she returned to her living room.

“Yes, My Lady.”

“Investigate. I want those Fallen beheaded and their heads impaled on pikes around that Village as retribution.” She ordered coldly.

“As you command. My Lady….”

“Hmm?”

“What of the boy?” the blue haired woman asked, coming out of the shadows.

Grayfia thought about it for a moment. The last time the Great King Faction had tried an attempt to drug Ingvild, it had been through a maid she had hired. A young girl of fourteen. She wouldn’t put it past those bastards to push an even younger child. It might be very suspicious of her but then again when dealing with such people, one can never be more careful. She finally decided on the course of action. “Observe the boy. Order Berta to not allow him inside the mansion. If he is not safe, make sure he disappears in an accident. Ingvild was greatly hurt when the maid was found guilty. That scenario is better off being avoided.”

“Yes, My Lady. But what if he is safe?” she asked with a bit of mirth in her tone.

“Then let him be. Ingvild promised him protection. He will be protected.” With that said, Lady Lucifuge went towards her room leaving her other bishop alone.

The one who was the center of the topic was sleeping peacefully at this moment.

_________________________________x__________________________________________________________________x_________________________________

Beta Reader: LuluViBritania(FF.N, SB and QQ)/-LuluViB|99th Britannian Emperor(Discord)

Author’s Note:

This was a sudden inspiration I had to write about how the Low Class Devils live and their struggles in the Underworld when I was deciding on the Magic System of the Devil Race for ‘Deal with the Devil’.

A Low Class Devil growing up and becoming something would be a new take.

Also I was asked why I don’t use Grayfia in my stories and instead make her doubles every time so I decided to just mess up the whole DxD world and make a new one. This is another take on what things could have been if Sirzechs and Grayfia didn’t end up together. A food for thought. I will explain in the next chapter.

Now, for people who think and I know will complain that Elias’ System is Overpowered.

In a way it is but he still has to work for it.

The Stats for different levels are as follows.

Normal Human: 1-10.

Low Class Devils: 1-100.

Mid Class Devils: 101-500.

High Class Devils: 501-2,500.

Ultimate Class Devils: 2,501-25,000.

Satan Class Devils: 25,001-250,000.

Super Devils: 250,001-?????????

According to this, Elias will take around three hundred years even if he gets around ten Stats in total per day to reach Super Devil level all across the board.

It is strong but not OVERPOWERED.

I hope you all enjoy and comment about this story.

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.