Daily Life with Three Systems: Chapter 11

"My silk is stronger than what is woven from spider silk. In addition, I can dye it with vibrant colorations. Surely my product would be worth more than the standard rate." - Andrew 

"But the spear you want is made of highly expensive materials that we'll need to import. We will take a considerable loss to begin this order and the modifications you want us to make are very complex and will be time consuming. The fact that we are even willing to pay market rate is already saying something as silk typically isn't much use to blacksmiths like us." - Papi 

"Alright. Fine. How much would you need?" - Andrew 

"One moment I'll need to do some math." - Papi 

As she's doing that I look to the other window where I'm also talking to Grimmel. 

"How quickly do you think you could get me a Skrill?" - Archmage Graves   

"A rare breed... but you are in luck. I have been looking for rarer dragons since we first made contact. Are the gloves done?" - Grimmel the Grisley 

"They are. Completely and totally heat insulated. You could stick your hand into molten rock and at worst the glove might come off if you tried to pull it out. I also slipped in something quite special as well. Showing a little appreciation for our continued dealings. The palm of the glove can absorb kinetic energy and re-distribute it from the knuckles. Normally every force has an equal and opposite reaction, thus whatever force you'd produce, you'd also be forced to suffer. However. I made it so the glove simply re-absorbs that force into itself allowing one large blow to turn into several, just at reduced power after the first." - Archmage Graves   

"To put it simply. Punch the glove's palm and the cloth on the back of the hand will begin to glow. Speak the command word 'devastate', and the next thing to touch the knuckles will be hit with the force of a punch. Then the next time you do it, the force of half a punch. Then with the force of a quarter of a punch, and so on. Just be aware that the gloves have a maximum capacity and can be dangerous when overcharged. Reaching the capacity and going slightly over it won't do much, just some slight wear and tear, but it is possible that they explode if a truly large portion of kinetic energy is stored within them. Likely taking your hands with them." - Archmage Graves   

"Interesting. Now, I don't believe that would be a worthy trade for any ordinary Skrill. Luckily for you, the one I found is quite an impressive specimen." - Grimmel the Grisley 

I send over the pair of gloves as a dragon is placed in the trade window. 

"Holy shit..." I whisper. 

He's right... this is an impressive Skrill. 

Normally I'd be looking at a purple wyvern, a long head, a frill of spikes, a low-down build, and scythe-like blades at the bend of its wings. 

A powerful creature assuredly, but... this one? 

Its scales are a deep blue, the tips of its spikes lightening in color. Its eyes are an almost ethereal neon blue along with the inside of its mouth. 

Now. 

You might be asking yourself 'dude. You nearly got your body taken over by a fucking lizard with wings. How could that tiny dragon even slightly compare to this? Are you fucking insane?!' And... normally you'd be correct. However. 

I know the weakness of Skrill. 

A terrible terror doesn't necessarily have any weaknesses aside from its overall size, firepower, strength and all that. 

A Skrill is a dragon that can harness electricity. They live in thunderstorms and can 'ride' lightning. 

They are arguably the fastest dragon species in the right circumstance. Thus, one is needed for my plan. 

They shoot out streams of lightning from their mouth and can create a sort of electricity field around them that can deflect projectiles. 

They do have weaknesses, though. Firstly? Silver and metal in general. It attracts their lighting and in general distracts them. Next and more importantly? Water. A wet Skrill cannot make use of its lightning. 

Making use of the speed stinger's paralytic venom and these facts... I should be able to take it using the brief moment of time I have before it realizes what is happening. 

"Pleasure doing business with you." - Archmage Graves   

[Split] 

"Master Makarov." 

"Ah? Oh! Andy my boy. It has been a while, I might have come looking for you had your friends not told me that you were okay." 

"Sorry. I was busy researching magic." 

"You should still go out often and enjoy your childhood, my boy." The man weakly chastises, but I won't tell you to stop doing something you clearly love." 

He seems to look over my hoodie. "Wait... that shirt? Did you make that yourself?" 

"I did." I nod once. 

"Interesting, my boy! Displaying the symbol so proudly! Actually... could you make a few more of those? Some of our fans would probably want them." 

"Sorry. I'm not doing any commissions right now. I'm busy preparing for a mission." I admit after a moment. "I'll get back to you after I complete it." 

"Oh? A mission huh?" The man echoes. "Is that why you're here? What do you need?" 

"Do we have any books on thunder storms... like what creates them?" 

"I'm fairly certain we do in the library." The man mutters, closing his eyes. "It should be on one of the bottom shelves." 

"Thank you master." I nod as I turn and walk away. 

[Split] 

A final spool of cloth is sat on the floor. It's quite thick, about three feet tall and is overall about forty feet of silk. 

This is the fourth I've made. 

Four hundred and eighty square feet of silk for my weapon. That is what Papi and her mother estimated. 

That's fine. It took about a month of off and on effort, but I eventually finished making the cloth. 

Now to continue to practice talisman creation. 

I take a seat at the desk, Koneko, Valerie and Rias meandering around behind me. A paintbrush rests in my hand as I dap the end of it in some blood- dragon blood- and carefully begin drawing a Japanese character. 

I blink twice, a sudden blast of clarity striking me. "I should be doing this outside." 

I pick up the desk after carefully picking up my supplies, then make my way out into the front yard. 

I sit back down. 'lets see here- fuck. Messed up that character. I've got to start again.' 

I grab another slip of paper as a screen appears next to me. 

"Heeey uh, Andy do you have some time right now?" - Mangafan 

"Sure." I send back with one hand. 

"Soooo like, I joined the club and the people there are nice, it's just- I'm worried." - Mangafan 

"About what?" - Andy's Coffin 

'let's see here... uhhhh. This one looks pretty good. According to the book I should just be able to stick it to something, channel a little magical power and- 

Thud 

I blink down at my hand which now has a glowing white chain coiled around it. 

Ah... 

Right... 

I'm a devil, aren't I? 

This might take a little more time. 

The table rattles as I strain against it briefly. 

"So, uh, one of the girls there seems really depressed, like, she puts on this brave face all the time, but I can see it in her eyes and this other girl. I THINK SHE CUTS HERSELF?! LIKE WHAT?! And then my friend, ever since this year started, she's been looking at everyone like she knows something that nobody else does, it's REALLY freaking me out!" - Mangafan 

I scratch at the ofuda with a nail of my free hand, a frown on my lips. 

'come on. I didn't even put that much power into this! This is ridiculous!' 

I let out a single sigh, turning towards the screen, typing a reply.  "Honestly? I'm an anti-social shut in with like... barely any friends or social interaction. I have no idea how to help you here... one second. I think I might know someone who can help you." 

"Rias!" I call out. 

The door opens behind me. 

"Yeah- PFFT! AHAHAH You got stuck?!" 

"That's not what I was calling for. Want to go do a contract with one of my only internet friends?"  

She blinks twice only to smile. "Oh of course! What can you tell me about them?" 

"Uh... they're a girl. They really like manga. I think their father might be abusive. Oh and she's currently worried about a friend that's depressed, another that's cutting themselves, and a third that acts like she knows some sort of secret about the world." 

"Alright! Maybe we can talk about cute boys and manga!" Rias decides. 

"Whatever." I shrug. "I'm just going to keep on trying to get this to work without it triggering on me." 

She hands me a summoning flier, I stick it in the window, then hit 'trade'. 

"What is this?!" - Mangafan 

"TLDR. I'm a multidimensional wizard. But more importantly a shut in, if you use that you'll be able to summon Rias. She's more of a people person so she might be able to help you." - Andy's Coffin 

"WHAT THE FUCK?! IT CAME OUT OF MY COMPUTER?!" - Mangafan 

"Multidimensional wizard."- Andy's Coffin 

"Ooh? She's already using it? Call me back when it gets dark. Valerie has one of my contracts!" 

With a flash she disappears causing me to let out a low hum and go back to clawing at the edge of the paper seal. 

The glow fades, the table thudding back down onto the ground as the chains abruptly disappear. 

I slowly unclench and clench my fist. 

[Split] 

Rias storms out of the house, the sky a deep orangish red from the sun lowering in the distance. 

"Yeah?" I question. 

"I'm adopting her." Rias declares, causing me to turn and give her a confused look. 

"Pardon?" I blink. 

"Natsuki is a small adorable and innocent little tsundere anime loving girl... and I REFUSE to allow the world to keep punching down at her. I'm going to invite her to my peerage... and I'm going to beat up her dad." 

"..." 

"How... abusive is he?" I question, the corners of my mouth turning downwards. 

"Physically and emotionally, but not sexually." She answers. 

"Want me to make you some sort of talisman to slap on his head. I might be able to figure out something like 'pain amplification'." 

"Actually..." I mutter. "That'd probably be useful for Deliora." 

"No. It's fine. I can handle it. I just wanted to let you know that someone else will probably be living here pretty soon. I'm going to slowly break it to her that she could use magic if she decided to join me." 

"Isn't four people already kind of... much?" I question slowly. 

"it is, but I don't care. I'm adopting her." She proclaims. 

"I see... whatever. If push comes to shove I guess we could build another room... the main issue being that I have no skill in construction. OH! Idea! I'll ask Virgo if she knows any Celestial Spirits that are good at building!" 

"Ooooh! That could work!" Rias grins. "Ooooor that base upgrade could get us more room!" 

"I'm- probably- not going to waste such a good reward on a better home. Personally I'm more leaning towards the second origin or the lost magic." 

"What's lost magic?" 

"Dragon slayer magics and stuff." I answer as I look back to the numerous 'test' sheets of paper in front of me. "Mainly it's magic that's either too strong or has some sort of consequence to using it. Like how slayer magics turn you into the thing you're supposed to be killing. Utterly fucking with your senses." 

"And what would you pick?" 

"Divination." I answer instantly. "Mainly so I can find all those fuckin' keys." 

"Huh." The girl notes. "Could be useful." 

"Either that or a book on 'Metal Maker Magic'." 

[Split] 

Dark Grey surrounds me as I float in the air, two large blue wings flapping behind me as I close my eyes. 

Blue briefly crackles around me, clinging to my body. Bolts of lightning shoot towards me, coiling around my wings and cradling my body. 

A deafening crackle echoes in my ears as I streak across the sky. 

My magic begins getting drained quite quickly as my world devolves into white. 

Eventually I break out of the clinging electricity, a gasp leaving my lips as I silently glide for a brief moment. 

I look to two archive windows. 

A clock is stopped. I gaze towards another macro I created, a steadily rising number. 

I allow myself to idle in the air, wings flapping as I bring out a calculator. 

"Six point five... let's round down to six as it took me a moment to turn off the clock... and let's knock off five hundred feet for the gliding." I fall through the cloudy veil, coming to a stop gazing over an expansive forest. "Seventy six thousand divided by six..." 

"Oh damn..." I whisper, a grin on my lips.  

I traveled nearly fourteen and a half miles in just six seconds. 

THAT is some speed. Eight thousand miles per hour. 

I open a window for my notes quickly adding a few lines to the Skrill entry. 

Magic 5: Take Over: Dragon Soul 
An interesting magic. Takeover seems to involve you 'trapping' a monster in your body at which point you will both appear in your mindscape and be forced to fight in one-on-one combat, with each blow weakening your opponent such as you feeling like your wearing cement shoes or your arms locking up. 
The winner gains access to the loser's power, allowing you to assume their form. For creatures resisting a takeover they will be able to takeover your body and I assume are able to freely escape if they wanted. 

It's worthy of note that the strengths of the creature are added to yours. Thus 'Human Takeover' on your exact perfect replica would grant you a takeover form where you're twice as strong as you normally are. With dragons? Ohoho it's has potential. If this adding only applies to physical traits or extends to magical potency and capacity, I'm unsure. Further testing is needed. 

Dragons List: 

Dragon 1: Terrible Terror: 
The Terrible Terror is a small dragon. Weak. A little larger than a bobcat. 
Advantages:  
Flight: (Duh) 
Basic fire magic:  
Fire ranging from a short ranged flamethrower to bolts of fire energy that can be shot from the mouth or notably the hand or fingertips to an explosive 'grenade' of energy that blows up on contact with a solid surface. 

Dragon 2: Speed Stinger: 
A horrifying flightless dragon which has INCREDIBLE speed plus a paralytic venom. 
Advantages:  
Speed Magic:  
A speed stinger is passively much faster than a normal dragon. They run at speeds that cause them to be just a blur to whoever can see them. Estimated perception enhancement: Up to x10, Maximum speed in short bursts 1281 MPH. 
Stealth... mode??: 
Somehow despite moving at nearly twice the speed of sound, the Speed Stinger doesn't create a sonic boom. Tis unnatural. 
Venom Magic:  
Grants the capability in hybrid form to shoot little needles from index finger like a gun. Useful if I don't want to form the entire tail. A speed stinger's venom nonlethally locks up most of the target's muscles. Causing numbness and stiffness. 

Dragon 3: GIGA Skrill: 
Some sort of super Skrill. I genuinely have no idea how Grimmel caught this thing. Fucking massive. Could probably pick up a bus and fly off fairly easily. Capable of storing ENTIRE bolts of lightning effortlessly. Genuinely immune to electricity. Unsure about dragon slayer magic though... I mean, it's in the name. 
Advantages: 
Flight: (Duh)  
Electromagnetic armor:  
The rock Koneko hurled at me was vaporized, when Rias swung a sword at me it physically stopped it and flung it from her grasp. I can seemingly decide how I want to 'deal with' whatever the armor stops. From vaporization to repelling. 
Lightning Magic:  
This should be pretty obvious. The Skrill has incredibly potent electrical powers. Large blasts of lightning, balls of lightning, controlled beams of lightning, you name it and it's got it. It can also draw in ambient electricity to 'recharge' my magical power. Dragon Slayer-lite??? 
Ride the Lightning: 
HOLY FUCK. I just moved 14 miles in 6 seconds. Speed Stinger who? The only issue with this power is that it's quite energy intensive. Those short 6 seconds took around 10% of my current reserves. 

I nod slowly. 

'Alright. Let's head back... but let's try and hustle!' 

I set another waypoint, preparing to start the timer again. 

My hair stands on end as the air fills with static. 

BOOM 

I shoot through the sky, a feral grin on my lips. 

FINALLY! I feel like I have some real power in this world. Not just hiding away in my home, playing with yarn. 

I feel like I can finally make a difference. 

I feel... secure. 

I slide to a halt, a panting breath leaving my lips. I spent fifty percent that time. 

"Let's see here... I- holy shit..." 

W-Well... 

I overshot home. 

Fifty seven miles... in five point five seconds. Almost on the dot... 

I'm currently flying over the ocean right now, my wings gently flapping. 

I quickly make an addendum to my notes. 

Ride the Lightning: 
Extremely swift travel covering dozens of miles in mere seconds. Distance can be extended with more magical power used. Current maximum speed: 40,000-ish Miles per Hour. 

That speed is ludicrous... 

But... it's still not the full speed of lightning, thus I could probably improve it. Who knows. 

"Yeesh. Flying back home is probably going to take some time." 

[Split] 

Thud 

I faceplant in the dirt, wings slowly retracting. 

WOW that took a while. 

"Oh. You're back." Rias mutters. "So how was it?" 

"I traveled over fifty miles in just over five seconds." 

"..." 

"I ran the numbers on the way back. Forty thousand miles per hour. About a sixth the speed of lightning... not the flash, but the actual electricity." 

"Huh..." Rias mutters. "That is... damn. That's really impressive, actually." 

"Took about half of my magical power to do that, but eh. Saved a LOT of time. the only issue is that I can't really... ah... control that speed. for my plan I'm going to be abusing the fuck out of that, so I might need a little more practice... oh! I'll also probably need to see how badly it hurts when I hit a solid surface." 

[Split] 

Alright... sooooo I almost broke my ankle. 

While my body is SUPER resilient in skrill form, it really isn't suited for 40,000 miles to dead stop in an instant. 

Of course I DEFINITELY didn't reach even slightly close to those speeds 

Closer to four hundred feet than forty thousand. 

But still. That was AGONIZING on the knees and ankles. 

So. I spent some time making myself some kinetic absorption clothes. 

If I'd give it a name, I'd call it my 'downfall armor' as it can only absorb kinetic energy through the soles. 

It's... kind of a onesie. 

Wait... 

Dragoon Pantaloon! Fuck! That's good! 

But Pantaloon's for women's clothing. 

Oh well. Downfall Clothing it is. 

But. Function over form. 

With it I was able to stomp down with a force that broke the sound barrier and barely felt it. 

I promptly shattered a tree when I brushed my fingertip against it, though. 

Then half of that energy was re-captured and allowed me to spinter it again... and again... and again. 

Anyways, the spear I'm going to use is also going to be a slight issue as I might just impale myself with the shaft while diving down at Mach ten. 

I can make a sash or something to protect my chest. I'm not that worried. 

I place a final talisman on the table, letting out a small yawn. 

Skrill blood is considerably more effective for lightning talismans... but still far more effective than the Terrible Terror. Notably, the speed stinger is slightly better than the Skrill at restraining seals, but notably worse for everything else. 

If I had to take a guess, that's because my Skrill is the equivalent of a 'named' dragon, while the Speed Stinger is just your average everyday dragon. Plus, in general a Skrill is far rarer of a dragon. 

Like comparing Fafnir to fire dragon eleven. 

'lets see here... three months left. Papi said my spear should be done any day now. I've already prepared a bunch, but I'll probably need more time to get used to it. 

[Split] 

A purplish spear swings through the air, a frown on my lips. 

The weight is good, and they've added a few little grooves in the blade itself. 

The edge is mildly chilled. Not to a freezing extent, but... enough. It's probably at around sixty degrees or so? It should be suitable for my needs. 

I look towards a nearby rock which has a few logs sat up on it. 

With a swing the top halves are effortlessly cleaved from the bottom. 

The blade didn't even slow down. The severed edges of the wood taking on a slightly frosty appearance. 

I jab the spear forwards with one hand, a brief icy gale shooting outwards and knocking over the bottom halves of the split logs, causing them to collapse. 

A good weapon. An icy metal made of one singular piece. It should withstand the force of my attacks. 

Realistically, all it needs to do is survive a few. I probably won't need it after I kill Deliora. 

I've still got two and a half months to prepare. I'll spend one month working on some more talismans, then... I'll head out to hunt down the beast. I think I have an idea to make the restraining seals work on Deliora but skip over me. 

Of course, it wouldn't work for Rias, Koneko, or Valerie, but that's neither here nor there. 

I requip the spear away nodding slowly. 

I should also buy a case of water from the gas station... mainly for the plastic bottles. I'll need those. 

I postponed that because I didn't want to spend time gathering it up when it could very well weaken in potency during the wait up until my attack on the beast. 

Rias lets out a quiet yawn as she strolls out of the house. 

"Hey." I greet. 

"Hey." She waves.  

"How are you?" I ask. 

"I'm good. Just got back from visiting Natsuki. Helped her with a club project. I WILL have her in my peerage!" 

"Possessiveness is kind of a creepy trait." I point out lazily. 

"It worked with you, didn't it?" 

"Honestly I'm just kind of waiting until I get some sort of race change from Mr. Deity." 

She pouts at me. 

"But I will admit. Being a devil is kind of convenient." I sigh, shaking my head. 

"Damn right it is!" She continues to pout, crossing her arms over her chest with a quiet 'hmph'. 

I look back down to my ofuda practice. 

"So..." Rias quietly begins, walking closer. "How's your preparations coming along?" 

"I've... got basically everything I need." I answer, looking over with the tiniest smile. "I'm going to squeeze out a little more practice, but I've done pretty much everything I can think of." 

"Do you think you can win?" She slowly asks. 

"Not in a fair fight." I shake my head, gazing down at the paper seals. 

"Possibly not even in an unfair fight... best case scenario? My plans work without a hitch. I'm just worried that I don't really have anything potent enough to land that final blow. I might be able to restrain it, but most of my attacks aren't really suited for killing blows against a kaiju." 

"On one hand, slap every explosive seals I have on it and pray that it doesn't just walk off the explosion as the heat would totally fuck over the ofuda keeping it restrained. On the other? Maybe I can slam demonite bolt after demonite bolt into its forehead until I drill into its brain?" 

"Wait!" I pause. "What if I jab a metal rod into it and use it as a lightning rod then dump an entire thunderstorm into it!" 

"That might work." Rias nods quietly. "If not. Hold it in place and I'll swoop in and sever its spine with a blast of destruction... you won't get your third origin, but whatever. You might get another opportunity." 

"Fair." I shrug, gazing back down at the paper. "And... thanks for your help, Rias. It means a lot." 

"Well, you are my friend and precious bishop! Of course I would help you!"