Game of Monsters - 73 (Patreon)

Disclaimer: I don’t own Highschool DxD.

Starts With a Broken Heart

Joshua didn’t even know what to think as he looked between the screen of his system and the screen of his computer.

[Minor Blessing of Nephthys

Increases the potential of the user to connect with Magics.

Increases the ability of the user to learn skills related to Magics.]

‘Nice effect, I guess,’ he mused wryly as his hand petted Cheshire on his lap and Morag played with his hair while hanging from his back. ‘Definitely good, that’s for sure,’ he continued, calling for another screen from his system.

[Ward Magic – Lvl 61/125

Determines the user’s ability to utilize Ward Magic.

Increases affected area while utilizing Ward Magic by 61%.

Increases magic potency while utilizing Ward Magic by 30.5%.

Ward Spells: 12]

‘25 more levels available, which is less than the blessing of Shed did for the other skills… but it is a weaker blessing for the moment,’ Joshua thought, humming as he looked through the rest of the Magic branch skills that looked pretty much the same, even if they had different levels at the moment. The best part of it all was that it added another 25 levels to Spell Modification too, which was great. Especially since Joshua had been about to max that skill. ‘That ability to learn skills related to Magics part though… Does that mean those will rise faster?’

He wouldn’t get an answer, but he guessed that if it was that, he’d notice. Or so he hoped, at least. His skills weren’t very fast increasing as of late, but then again, maybe the boost wouldn’t be very noticeable. If the speed remained the same though, he’d be happy with just that, to be honest. Things were getting harder and harder to level up, after all, and the time for the plot was coming his way and he knew it.

With a sigh, he turned back to the computer.

‘She was associated with mourning, the night/darkness, temple services, childbirth, the dead, protection, magic, health, embalming and beer,’ he read with a slight grin appearing on his face before he chuckled.

“That’s quite a bit more than you, isn’t it, buddy?” he asked, taking the Charm of Shed and throwing it up and down in his hand. He was pretty sure the feeling he got from the artifact was the equivalent of a huff. “Gotta say though, I'm a fan of that last one. Man, it’s been a while since I had a cold be-er…” he trailed off then, as a circle appeared on the desk and from it… “Thanks,” he mumbled, taking the beer can with a bemused expression. It was very cold, which was great but still…

That was when he got a very smug feeling from the Charm. The strange part was that it didn’t feel like Shed did. Joshua couldn’t quite put his finger on the difference, but he knew it was someone else there. Nephthys, he supposed.

Looking at the artifact, he cast Appraisal on it.

Sure enough, something had changed.

[Charm of Egypt

Rank - B]

‘Ah,’ he thought, blinking in surprise before sighing. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to take that new information, so he pushed that to the side and focused on the more pressing matters. Except, he couldn’t do that either, he was pretty sure.

“You guys are not gonna tell me what you want from me, are you?” Joshua asked, deflating where he sat. The amused feelings he got from both deities was a little annoying, he’d admit, but he was pretty sure they didn’t want bad things for him. Cheshire didn’t react at all to anything that was happening, so he took that as some reassurance. “I guessed as much,” he mumbled, turning the computer off and taking a deep breath in.

With that done, put the Charm in his pocket and walked out of the room to make himself a cup of tea. He needed one to keep his mind calm. After that, he’d probably go over the information he’d gotten from the hexes and his student’s spell modification attempts. There was some pretty interesting data to go through there, especially that Karin girl’s. She’d done something that had, quite honestly, completely escaped him. That was interesting.

‘Might be useful for the ever-changing spells. Haven’t worked on those for a while,’ Joshua mused. To be fair, he’d had much to work with and his progress there had slowed down a lot. Now though, he was starting to think that teaching might be the thing he needed to keep going. After all, what better way to have spells change how they work continuously than having a plethora of different takes on spells to use as a base.

For that, his students would need to get much better though. Especially considering that from a whole class, he’d only gotten one modification that had fit the bill. However, it was definitely something to look into.

“Josh?” Jeanne called, getting his attention as he walked into the living room with a cup of tea in his hands. “Can we talk?”

“Sure? What do you need?” Joshua asked, sitting in front of her at the table. “It’s not that kind of talk, is it? You’ve just started dating Kiba, so I’d hope it’s n-”

“Josh!” the girl protested loudly, making him chuckle as she turned bright red. “Be serious,” she growled, pouting adorably.

“Sure, sure. What is it?”

“It’s… kind of related, actually,” she said, much to his surprise. “I was just thinking it’s weird that, you know, you never showed interest in anyone. Unless you aren’t attracted to women, which would be fine, but still-”

“I like women,” he interrupted with a deadpan. “And I mean, why is that weird?” Joshua asked, blinking.

“Because we are surrounded by very attractive women?” she shot back, sounding just as confused.

“I mean, yes, but let’s look at it like this,” he started, rolling his eyes. “You didn’t show interest in anyone before Kiba, that I noticed.”

“I mean, Sairaorg was very handsome,” Jeanne said, suddenly looking very embarrassed. He was surprised that she kept going though. She tended to shy away from topics like that once they came up. “But I thought he was a bit out of my league, honestly.”

“And the women around us are not out of my league?” he asked this time with a chuckle before taking a sip from his drink. “Are you seeing the same people I’m seeing?” he added with a grin. “So, yeah, even if I was attracted, what’d be the point?”

“... Hmm, I guess,” Jeanne replied, but he got the impression that she wasn’t quite happy with that answer. It was how it was. Joshua couldn’t quite change who he was, so… Yeah, he’d take what he could get. The look on his sister’s face made him feel plenty nervous though. Fortunately, she seemed to drop the subject at that and went for a different topic. Eventually though, she left him to his own devices again.

Once he was alone though, Joshua deflated on his chair. Cheshire, perceptive girl that she was, jumped on his lap, rubbing her head against his chest. She was also soon followed by Margalo who started singing what he was sure was her Gentle Song. Through his bond, he felt Nagini and Morag’s support too.

Even with all that, he couldn’t help but chuckle bitterly.

“I’m a coward,” he mumbled, placing a hand on top of his first familiar.

[}-o-{]

[Sona Sitri]

She found herself back at Davis’s cafe, as she was doing more and more often. The owner himself was around, which wasn’t the case as often as one would expect, really. However, she wasn’t there for him, really, nor had she been the other times either.

No, she was there because she enjoyed the place. The first visit, she’d gone to see just what had become of her work on the place and how it was going. Curiosity, for the most part. However, she’d taken a drink and sat at one of the tables for a while… And she found that it was quite an enjoyable experience, really.

There were no pressing concerns from school management that she’d taken as part of “student council” work. There were no trouble students to deal with or club issues to look into. There was only her drink and the homey feeling of the place, which she’d already given her compliments to Rias for. It was altogether a nice place to relax at.

“So-tan~” someone greeted, taking the seat in front of her and Sona sighed. She loved her sister dearly, but she could be a drain on her energy levels. On top of that, she’d have preferred to leave her out of the quiet place she’d found for herself. “I’ve missed you!”

“Could you please be quieter, sister?” Sona asked, trying to make it known how much she’d appreciate that. “And I’ve missed you too,” she added. Because as much of an embarrassment and annoyance as Serafall could be, she’d always be her big sister too. The one person she could count on if she really needed something.

“I guess I can do that. Joshua would get annoyed with me too if I make a scene in here,” her sister replied, turning to look at the aforementioned cafe owner. Sona, however, narrowed her eyes at her sister instead.

“You two spend a lot of time together,” she pointed out, some pieces of a puzzle falling into place in her head. The picture they formed was strange, but the more she looked at it…

“I’m helping him with his project to help Ria-tan,” Serafall replied with a shrug, still grinning widely. “How is she doing, by the way?”

“She’s doing well,” Sona answered calmly, taking a sip from her coffee. “Training with Joshua has done wonders to her confidence. She’s like another person entirely, these days.”

A bit of an exaggeration that, but it was true that Rias looked a lot more motivated now. Where she’d just been coasting through life before, now she put actual effort into the things she did. It also seemed to be a sentiment that passed on to the rest of her peerage. If she were honest, Sona was a little envious.

She had always known that she was the least talented of the two, but now that Rias was putting in the effort it was becoming more and more evident. She was happy for her best friend, she truly was, but it left her feeling the slightest bit bitter. Maybe she’d accompany them with her peerage whenever they went to train at Joshua’s place.

“That’s great to know. Sirzechs will be happy to hear that,” Serafall said, before someone appeared to their side and left a drink for her.

“Enjoy… and don’t cause a scene, please,” Joshua told them, looking specifically at the older sister when he said that last part. To that, Serafall pouted at his retreating back, even as she picked up the drink and took a sip of it.

“Joshua’s a meanie,” Sona heard her mumble, making her hide a smile behind her own cup.

“You still like him,” she pointed out.

“Of course I do. He’s nice,” Serafall agreed with no problem to which Sona was slightly surprised.

“I expected a denial, honestly.”

“There’s little to dislike about him,” Serafall commented, thoughtfully stirring the drink in her cup. “He seems to have an allergy to politics though, which is kinda a problem.”

“But…?” Sona prodded.

“But the real problem is that he doesn’t seem even remotely interested,” her sister replied with a pout. “I mean, look at this body, what’s not to like?” she asked, only half-joking, as she struck a pose. Which caused poor Hyoudou to stumble where he’d been walking. Sona really hoped it wasn't going to cause the pervert to revert to his old ways.

Whatever Joshua and Jeanne were doing was really curving the boy’s attitude and she could only hope that’d continue to be the case.

“Have you considered that he might be interested and you just don’t notice?” Sona asked, because she had a hard time thinking that any man wouldn’t be interested in her sister. Maybe it was because… Well, she was her sister, but still. She was beautiful, and if one ignored her silliness and such, she also had a great personality. Joshua, as far as Sona knew, was perfectly capable of looking past that.

“Hm… It could be, but why wouldn’t I…?” Serafall started, before blinking. Sona had been witness to her sister’s thoughtful epiphany expression several times. Occasionally it would happen when she was dealing with some issue involving her job as a Satan. “Hm… I have to check on something.”

“Good luck,” Sona said, watching her sister stand up and leave. It was a second later that she saw that the cup Serafall had was empty and that she’d left money to pay. Then she turned to see Joshua waiting some table on the other side of the shop and gave him a considering look.

[}-o-{]

[Kunou]

“Hard at work again, huh?” her mother asked as she wrote down some things on a sheet of paper. “I wonder what you could possibly be working on. Couldn’t be that card project you are working on with Joshua, could it?”

Kunou simply gave a slight smile before she finished writing down the card idea she’d just had. She’d have to ask her dad about it later, the next time she saw him. The little girl couldn’t help the giddy feeling she got just from thinking that. Time passed and she still wasn’t able to think or refer to Joshua as her dad without feeling like the happiest girl in the world. It was silly, she knew, but she couldn’t help it.

“Wouldn’t happen to be putting off your homework to work on that, would you?” her mother asked then, making her freeze where she sat. “Kunou?” Yasaka prodded, raising an eyebrow at her while Kunou deflated where she sat.

“I still have time,” she argued weakly.

“Do your homework, Kunou,” her mother demanded, making her pout. “You know Joshua will be disappointed if you continue skipping the things you have to do, right?” she added then, making her sulk even more as the girl pulled her homework from where she’d pulled it aside. “If you were this motivated with only me telling you to do stuff,” the woman lamented jokingly.

“It’s not that, it’s just…” Kunou protested, getting stuck on the actual justification of her argument.

“It’s just that he’s new and you want him to like you,” Yasaka explained, taking the words right out of her mouth, even if she hadn’t quite found them before her mother spoke. “He’s also not your real father and you know that, which makes it harder for you to think that he likes you even if he does.”

Kunou didn’t say anything to that, simply locking her eyes on her homework and feigning to actually be doing it.

“Silly Kunou,” her mother whispered, running her fingers through the girl’s hair. “Joshua loves you like you really are his daughter. I don’t know how that happened so fast, but he does. I can feel it in his life energy, and I know you can too. So why is it so hard to believe?”

“But… What if he stops feeling like that? What if he gets tired of me?”

“What if he leaves?” her mother added then, the last question that Kunou hadn’t quite been brave enough to voice being out in the open regardless. “He won’t, sweetie. He’s a far braver man than your father was, I can tell you that.” Yasaka said it with a touch of bitterness and anger in her voice, not that Kunou could blame her. She’d dedicated more than one less than nice thought to her biological father after she heard of what he did.

“Then why…?” she started, before cutting herself off. It was a stupid question and it was also mean of her to ask. On top of that, she felt silly just thinking about it, really. Silly and greedy, and she didn’t want to be either. It was just… she couldn’t help it.

“Why what, Kunou?” her mother asked, to which she just shook her head.

“It’s nothing.”

“That wasn’t nothing,” Yasaka said, urging her to talk. “Talk to me, sweetie. You obviously care about what you were going to say.”

“I just wonder… Why you liked father and not Joshua,” Kunou mumbled, giving up under her mother’s questioning gaze.

“Your father wasn’t a bad person, Kunou. At least not before he did what he did,” Yasaka answered slowly, and she could see how sad explaining was making her mother. This instantly made Kunou feel worse, but she knew that it’d be futile to try and wave the whole thing away. “I’d tell you about him, but I suspect that you are more focused on the second part of that statement than the first, aren’t you?”

Kunou knew that her mother had likely picked up on that through life sensing, but it still was completely unfair how easy Yasaka could read her. How was she supposed to keep secrets from her mother if she knew basically everything that she felt? To protest against the unfairness of it all, Kunou remained silent. It wasn’t like it’d do much, but it would make her feel better, and that was something.

“Joshua is a nice man,” Yasaka continued then, getting Kunou’s full attention. She didn’t think she’d heard the woman speak of her dad in something that wasn’t a political context or something impersonal like that. “He’s caring, and affectionate, and he loves you. However… his mind and heart aren’t in the right place for such things. He seems to have been a rather solitary person before. Something that seems to have gotten worse and better after some of the things he’s lived through, of course, but still, romance isn’t something he’s ready for.”

“But why?” Kunou asked, pouting. If there was one thing that she’d have loved, it was for her dad and her mother to get together. She was getting greedy, she knew, but she couldn’t help it. Everything had gone so well for her as of late… Was it any surprise that she wanted more?

“It’s easier for him to have familial relationships with people than it is any other kind. That’s why he was so quick to adopt Jeanne as his sister and you as his daughter. He loves family and his… wasn’t quite as welcoming for the most part. That, added to the fact that his parents died…” Her mother explained slowly and carefully. She understood that much, but still… “Friends and romance are harder for him to understand, that is what I’m trying to say. He has allies and family, so those are easier for him to welcome into his life.”

“Still…”

“I know what you want, Kunou, but it’s just not possible right now,” Yasaka said with a smile, placing a comforting hand on Kunou’s shoulder. The child, dejected, sighed to herself as she focused back on her homework.

That is, until her mind caught on to something. ‘Right now?’ she wondered, looking at her mother out of the corner of her eye. Yasaka, for her part, gave her a kind smile and remained silent.

[}-o-{]

[Asia Argento]

“I don’t understand!” she cried out as she was dragged towards the leader of the establishment she’d grown up in. “I just healed him, like I’ve done everyone else!”

“A hellspawn, that’s what you healed!” one of the people “escorting” her hissed, making Asia reel back from the sheer venom in his voice. Nobody had ever talked to her like that, even if most people weren’t very friendly with her to begin with. “To use a gift from God himself to heal a demon, you are a witch, a heretic. You are disgusting.”

“Just you wait, witch,” the one on her other side told her, grinning in a way that didn’t look nice at all. “If you are lucky, you’ll be out of here very soon. If not… Well, you’ll repent for your sins in some other way, I’m sure.”

“But, but you’ve taught me-” Asia tried to explain as she was pushed through the door. The leader didn’t look much happier than the other two, she found. “You taught me that my gift was healing, that I should use it to help others as the Lord would have liked. You taught me-”

“We didn’t teach you to heal devils, witch,” the man growled at her, standing up and looming over her. “I’ve already been informed of what you did, shaming this distinguished establishment with your heresy.”

“But, Father, I only-”

“Silence,” the man said. A simple word that sounded almost like a curse to Asia’s ears. She gulped, trying to push the knot in her throat down and failing miserably at that. “You are a disgrace and I’m disgusted to even look at you. After all we’ve done for you. After we took you in and raised you, to take all our teachings and do that with them,” the man said, and Asia felt her eyes start to sting as she stood there, across the desk from him.

She held her hands in front of her chest as she prayed. Prayed for help, prayed for an explanation, a sign, anything. Asia felt lost and confused and she just wanted to understand.

She felt so very powerless at that moment, something that wasn’t new to her, for sure. However, this time, it was much worse than any other time. This wasn’t her request to explore the city outside being rejected. Nor was it about wanting to visit some patient that she’d healed some time back. This was worse, made even more so by the fact that she still didn’t understand.

Her gift was healing, and it always had been. She’d healed humans and other species before and she knew that devils were supposed to be evil but… But so were some of the other people that she’d healed before and everyone had been fine with it. That devil had looked so injured, so desperate…

Did the Lord really expect her to turn her gift away from someone that needed her? That couldn’t be it, but if the leader said so… She was so confused…

“I don’t understand,” she whimpered as a tear fell down her cheek. The first of many, as it would seem.

“Then you are more stupid than we thought,” the leader said, making her flinch. She knew she wasn’t very bright, but she’d taken to her teachings well through her life. Asia had been told as much, surely… “After all the work we put into you, this is how we are repaid…”

“I’m sorry,” Asia mumbled, even if she still didn’t get why she was supposed to be sorry for. She’d done as she’d always been told, helped those in need as she’d been taught… “I’m sorry,” she repeated, because she didn’t know what else to say. She’d never seen the people in the church so angry, especially at her.

“Sorry won’t cut it, witch,” the Father told her, scowling down at her. “No, you aren’t welcome here anymore. You are-”

“I think I’ve heard enough,” a new voice said, the calmness of it a stark contrast to the Father’s anger and Asia’s desperation. “Gabriel told me that things had become worse than we ever thought they would, but I didn’t think it’d be quite this bad.”

When Asia turned towards this new person, her eyes widened instantly. There stood a very handsome man, one that made every other one Asia had ever seen pale in comparison. But it wasn’t his good-looking face that drew her attention, nor was it the long blonde hair or the green eyes. Not even the supremely kind expression he wore on his face.

Instead, it was the wings.

Twelve golden wings that spread behind him, with a beautiful ethereal shine to them.

‘An angel,’ Asia realized immediately. ‘Were my prayers answered?’ she wondered, before the idea that maybe he wasn’t here to help her but to help against her appeared in her mind. She felt her face pale and her legs tremble under her. Surely… Surely not. Surely the Lord hadn’t forsaken her so. She’d been dutiful. She’d done her best.

Asia had…

Asia hadn’t…

“Shh, child,” the angel told her, smiling sadly at her as he leaned down and placed a hand over her head. “Everything will be fine. It seems that my siblings and I have been too focused on our side of things. Changes will have to be made. For the moment, however, you shouldn’t worry. It isn’t you that’s at fault here and you shouldn’t ever think you are.”

So, Asia cried, this time not because of despair, but out of relief.

Maybe, just maybe, everything would be fine.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Ok, so, I’m very nervous about this. I know people have been complaining about Joshua’s denseness and the slowness of the romance in this story and such but… I have reasons for why I do stuff. One of those is, admittedly, that writing romance makes me nervous, but there’s also story related reasons too, I swear!

Thus, I’ve used this chapter to give you clues on those reasons and also to take a step forward on the romance part of this story. I know we are going at the slowest pace possible on that side, but I hope you guys don’t hate me too much for that.

I also hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Continuing with what most of the chapter and the notes talk about… What pairing are you supporting, if any?

See you.