Vessel #2: Unfortunately the Multi-Year Timeskip Didn't Happen

Thank you to my Patrons: SaffireSpirit13, TheButtGod, Zerak, Jacob Raymond, 9milli9, Bishop7053, Stealthkug, Sgt. Rock, Helios, Grim343, Vincent Mason, Zaccaria Babchia, aj0413, Tim Möller, Blahmeh, Fade, Definitely not Dio, Samot, Dave, Sanjay, Jmatt890, roger nascimento rocha, Johnathan Rogers, K, Jeremy Hernandez, fausto escobar, Jerome, Reen, K, Jonathan Rogers, Kirov Briggs, Michael Thunder, and gabriel hutcheron.

And a special thank you to Joe, you absolute madman.

In the middle of the hidden temple of the Yokai Faction, the golden-haired kitsune gracefully walked the halls. On any other occasion, any who saw her would be filled with pride of the fact their leader decided to mingle with the rest of them- ignoring the fact Yasaka did this frequently in her territory, as she was essentially High Ultimate Class for as long as she was in her territory and had no fear of assassins.

But, of course, their scornful eyes were instead on the human child trailing behind her who was clearly doing his best not to verbally lash out at the watching masses. At least until Yasaka stopped talking.

“- In any case, despite your obvious talents in combat, for now you will be specifically Kunou’s… favored bodyguard while I have you trained in swordsmanship and whatever senjutsu and spellcraft we can cram into you the old fashioned way.” The kitsune specified, as both she and Ikki came to the conclusion that asking anyone to ‘hit the human child with a spell without killing them’ would end with the reincarnator pushing up daisies due to concentrated arcane firepower.

And that’s if they didn’t start breaking out curses, which neither of them were sure would make it past his strange ability. He had informed Yasaka of this when she tried to learn more about how he pulled a never seen technique out of his ass- because he wasn’t about to keep a secret from the ancient spirit that was letting him crash with her faction for the foreseeable future. So, he informed her of his oddities, though he left out exactly what resided in his head.

After all, word will eventually spread if he talks about the aid for God’s System since he wouldn’t even be allowed to know anything about it since he dropped-

{Watch it.} Zaphiel warned from her place in his head, and he suppressed a click of his tongue. His annoyance of being censored in his own mind was hindered by the fact he was talking about her… Dad?

In any case, he abandoned that topic in favor of fixing Yasaka with a flat look. “Y’know, I had expected you to not be exactly like every fox spirit and fuck me over with a verbal loophole. Shows what I get for not being xenophobic.” He grumbled half-heartedly but snickered when one of her tails went and ‘accidentally’ smacked him upside the head.

“Hush. The position of being my daughter’s future bodyguard requires the most taxing and soul-crushing training of any position available outside of wartimes. That is for yokai, species that are exponentially stronger and tougher than humans like you. You may not even survive the process.” She stated calmly, her warning just as graceful as her stride.

Ikki fought down a grin. “And when I’ve finished?”

The corner of her mouth lifted as she regarded the human out of the corner of her eye. “You’ll be one of the best swordsmen on the planet, never mind one of the strongest humans without a Sacred Gear.”

His grin revealed itself. “Can I start now?”

At that, Yasaka giggled and stopped in front of a door Ikki hadn’t noticed they’d been walking towards. He really needed to keep his battle-boner tucked in because he wasn’t about to develop tunnel-vision just by hearing about a good challenge.

“Only if you can convince your… teachers.” With that, the doors slid open and the human was faced with two yokai kneeling on the mats. They were both humanoid with black wings sprouting out of their backs wearing simple kimonos with katanas strapped to their sides. The differences being one was a red-faced humanoid with beady eyes and an extremely long nose, while the other had a crow’s head with black feathers matching his wings.

Ikki turned to look at the silently smug kitsune who was now standing off to the side. He raised an eyebrow, and only got a posh laugh in response.

“... Alright, my name is Ikki Shindou, and I formally request for you to train me to become a bodyguard for Kunou.” He tried diplomacy, despite knowing full well how it was going to turn out.

“Ha!” The bird-faced Tengu barked out. “A mere human, asking for our help? If you really wish for our aid, you should start by groveling and work your way up!”

“He is right!” The red-skinned Tengu added unhelpfully. “We may follow Lady Yasaka, but that doesn’t mean we’ll just bend over backward to teach some brat her daughter fancies the techniques we’ve cultivated far before your ancestors were a lustful look in two bald monkeys’ eyes!” He and his partner began laughing mockingly at Ikki’s irritated look.

“... Fuck it, I tried.” He muttered underneath his breath. “Aye aye, you pansy-ass motherfuckers talk a lot of shit for a couple of insubordinate cowards who couldn’t train a fish to swim, let alone an actual swordsman.” He mocked ruthlessly and visibly smirked when the both of them bristled angrily

“Watch your tongue, brat,” Spoke the bird, glaring down at the human as if he were less than dirt. “We are completely loyal to Lady Yasaka, and training you isn’t even worth a dismissal from anyone worth a damn.” Ikki clicked his tongue at the controlled rebuttal but doubled down on his taunting.

“Wow, I thought you were a Tengu, not an overgrown cockatrice.” He stated firmly, a shit-eating grin combined with a demeaning leer to intentionally stroke any battle lust the two Tengu had.

His instincts screamed and he leaned back away from the savage thrust of the katana that hung between his eyes. Well, at least he provoked one out of two. Fifty percent was still a passing grade, probably.

“You forget yourself, human. I am honestly curious how you can dig your grave even deeper with that mouth of yours.” He scoffed at the hypocritical arrogance the bird-faced youkai gave off in spades, and batted the sword away with the back of his hand.

“And I’m curious how much squawking it’s going to take for you to actually give me what I’m asking for- or are you just chicken?” He thanked whatever bullshit instincts he had gained in this world, as that was the only possible explanation for how he caught the giant stick red-face had chucked at him.

Ikki refused to take his eyes off the pair of Tengu even as he got a grip on the wooden sword’s hilt, which was proven to be the correct choice as they both blurred out of his immediate vision once he did so. Internally swearing a storm at the anime bullshit he was getting ambushed by-

A burst of wind formed beneath his feet as he stepped away from the sword that had stabbed into the space his head once was. Thoughhe barely had any time to register the attempt on his life, before he swung out to block the blade of assured death that was coming from the opposite side.

Unfortunately, he had forgotten to reinforce his wooden stick, and got to experience the oh so terrifying view of his only defense getting split in two like it wasn’t even there and the blade seeking out his neck-

A dull smack rang out in his ears, and Ikki found himself embedded in the wall with a burning welt on the side of his neck. The realization the bird Tengu had switched his sword from the blade to the spine right before he was hit filled him with both extreme frustration and incomprehensible excitement.

“I want a fuckin’ rematch!” His new bruise screamed out against his will. “... Tomorrow!

Ikki ignored the irritation in their eyes, to instead pass out in his child-sized crater.

“... Okay, I give, what am I looking at?” The bandaged-up human looked up from the scroll, to meet the starry eyed kitsune child that he was currently on a ‘recovery mission’ to ‘guard and entertain’ her.

Aka, he was on a play date and he was legally obligated to stay and heal. Unfortunately.

“It’s a spell!” Ikki clamped down on his instinctive response to the obviousness of the statement- she was too cute to snark at. “I had some of my mom’s minions-” Pfft. Ikki’s influence was clear to see on the girl.”-find one in our library! It’ll help you make a magic sword that you can summon! Isn’t that cool?!”

The small, wonderful, beautiful kitsune was interrupted via extreme hugging via the reincarnator. “Kunou, I love you so much right now.” He told her with al the severity he could muster. A squeeze later, the human pulled away from the blushing mess of embarrassment and fur to read the scroll.

‘For the process of creating weaponry out of the user’s own, pure mana, one must be aware of the necessary calculations magicians to understand the sheer variance of abilities one can bestow upon the simulacrum of armament that one creates out of their own mind.’

Ikki’s eye twitched. What the fuck kind of nerd shit was he reading?! Why the hell does he need to understand math magic to use this fucking spell?!

{Humans have the single most complex and precise magic system out of every species on Earth.} Zaphiel began explaining. {Through this, human magic is the best and most accurate way to teach spells that have an abundance of variables that could create a multitude of different effects. Like this spell right here! So quit complaining and get to reading!}

Ikki did not, in fact, stop complaining. He did begin his reading though, despite the fact that sitting on his knees was not the most comfortable way to begin his journey to… ugh, legitimate magic.

Though Kunou was content to lean against him as he frantically read through the scroll, she eventually dragged him up from his path towards power and into more childish things. Like telling funny stories, or playing card games he’d forgotten he used to love playing when he was a kid.

… Ikki decided that he’d spend half of his magical studying time with Kunou, because she made a comfy pillow to learn the secrets of the universe on. And nothing else.

{Ikki,} Zaphiel spoke into his head one night a few weeks into his stay with the Yokai Faction, as he flopped into his bed. He was once again exhausted from both failing to get the Tengu to train him and getting a welt on his hip for his troubles, and the five hours of sword-drills he’d done that same day after getting his ass kicked. {I think I understand what’s going on with your body now.}

{Weakness leaving the body.} He thought at her, basking in the agony of a good workout.

{That’s a myth and you know it.}Ikki scoffed in amusement, and the angel stuck in between his ears could only sigh in faux annoyance. {In any case, I know what’s going on with you now, both with your instincts and what’s going on with your magic leeching.} They had agreed to refer to his ability to steal magic affinities as such, because it sounded the coolest.

{Give me the leeching shit first.} That was much more important, since his having improved instincts wasn’t exactly a bad thing. But he’d hate to end up crippled just because he tanked a spell he didn’t even get an affinity for after.

{You know how people with Type O Blood are universal donors, right?} He nodded, despite never bothering to check if that wasn’t just a myth from medical dramas.

{With that metaphor in mind, all mana that makes contact with your body is treated as Type O Blood being introduced into your mana pool. When that happens, instead of the donor adapting to your system, the opposite happens and you immediately gain the ability to use mana of a similar type and to a similar effect.}

Ikki… took a moment to process the nerd-vomit that filled his head. {So my mana gains the same properties as whatever spell I get hit with?} The impression of a nod entered the human’s mind.

{That… is weird.} DxD wasn’t a setting where everyone had hardlined affinities, in a way that meant all alternative affinities were forever blocked off to you. If you had the mana and skill, anyone could use a spell with any kind of effect. Save for species barriers and the like. 

Still, it would cut out the middle man for a lot of magic and/or techniques Ikki would shamelessly steal as he fought his way to the top. Being able to instinctively switch from Water Magic, to Fire, to Wind, and whatever else he’ll end up with is a major benefit.

{What’s the downside, Zaph?} The angel responded simply.

{Every type of mana has their own individual mana pools that form when received, so you can run out of certain types of mana for spells. They still regenerate as they should, they’ll form at the standard amount and strength for your age, and you’ll be able to increase them like any other mana pool…}

But he was human, so his mana pools would naturally be lower than anyone else. He’d need to work his fucking ass off to make the most of it- as what was the point of having dozens of magic if he could only make puddles and light candles with it?

His effort wouldn’t fail him, so he just moved on.

{... What else can it do? And why can I do it?}

This time, Zaphiel shrugged. 

{I don’t know exactly why you can do it, I can only tell you that whatever it is, is more of a… supernatural adaptation that you gained. It’s in no way harmful, at least as you are now, and it isn’t a product of anything foreign to you. Think of it as… a blessing?}

{Says the angel.} Ikki rolled his eyes as he focused on steadying his breathing and allowing himself to fall asleep. {I’d rather call this more of a ‘gift’, like my natural human ability to adapt… on magic steroids.)

{You have no idea how much I hate the fact I know someone made magical performance enhancing drugs in my absence. Really, what is Michael doing?} Zaphiel sighed into the human’s subconscious, as all the failures of her siblings in following her father’s teachings came crashing down on her all over again. Ikki could recognize it, the feeling of others failing you, while you could only watch them crash and burn. Granted, his experience originated from backseat gaming, but it was the thought that counted.

Zaph giggled into his ear. {Alright, I’ll stop moping. As for the first question… I don’t really know? I mean, there’s a single effect that has nothing to do with magic but-} The angel then broke out into even more giggles, this time more mischievous and foreboding. 

{... Zaph, what is it?}

{Don’t worry, I’ll tell you in about… two years and seven months, alright? I promise it’ll be funny!} Welp, Ikki was convinced. So, ignoring the ominous giggling echoing in his subconscious, he fell asleep easily for another day of swinging swords.

The human sat for dinner, as he always did, with Kunou and Yasaka. He quietly chewed while glaring at nothing, his knee jittering at his desire to bounce in frustration, once again eating traditional Japanese food with the chopsticks he had somehow gotten used to using.

“Ikki?” He looked up at the Yokai matriarch’s voice, to see her and her daughter looking at him curiously. “Did you hit another roadblock in creating your magic sword?” His eye twitched, but when he swallowed the wad of rice he shook his head.

“Yes, but that’s not what’s bothering me.” He said, reaching over for another bit of chicken and rice, ignoring their curious gazes- just because he was pissed at magic being so fucking complicated, doesn’t mean he didn’t love the food the chefs made him. Hell, they didn’t even try to poison him! “It’s… well, I’m trying to make a spell that’ll let me walk on thin air.”

Yes, he was stealing a Bleach move, and yes he was also surprised that was the first thing he’d try to steal.

The two kitsune simultaneously tilted their heads at his words, and he tamped down on his instinctive desire to pet them. Fuck, animal girls were his weakness, and this was not helping.

“Walking on air? Why don’t you just learn a flying spell?” Kunou asked, ignoring the chicken, rice, and veggies in her bowl. Ikki’s eyes glanced over to her tails, which were gently wagging behind her for whatever reason- he didn’t know fox expressions, especially on fox girls.

Looking back up so Yasaka didn’t start teasing him by saying Kunou was too young for him to play with her fluffy tails, again, the human let out a sharp smile. “I’m saving that for a special lesson from Birdbrain after I kick his and Rudolph’s asses.”

Why did Ikki want to bother the bird Tengu even more than Rudolph? Because the bird was the dynamic strategist of the pair, aka he got more difficult to deal with the longer the fight went on. And since he could now hold a full minute of consistent combat with the Tengus (before getting his ass removed and handed back to him), he was really feeling the force behind him.

Not that Rudolph was less annoying, but at least he got easier after the first thirty seconds. Fucking Tengus and their bullshit sword-teaching skills!

“So, what’s wrong with the Air Step spell? Something in the formula?” Yasaka asked, letting the human realize his expression had gotten more and more frustrated as he got lost in thought, and he let out a breath.

“I actually already completed the spell, so… probably not? Really, the only issue is that the platforms are way too smooth!” He growled, probably a warning sign he was spending too much time amongst the animal-people, but who cares? 

“Wait, doesn’t that mean that you’re skidding off the platforms?” The crack of the wooden chopsticks shattering in his hand was all the confirmation Yasaka needed to begin laughing at his misfortune, Kunou giggling beside him as well.

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and I don’t know how to stop it. Nothing in the formula I created dictates the texture for the platform, and adding a setting does jack all.” 

“Ikki… what did you base the form of the pseudo-material in the formula?” He eyed the elder kitsune wearily, the innocent expression on her face triggering every suspicious bone in his body.

“Glass, why?” She smiled innocently, and he knew exactly what time it was. “Yasaka…”

“Didn’t you know that you can alter the opaqueness of the material? So you didn’t need to use glass just because it’s transparent?” He sent a sharp look to Yasaka as he nodded.

“Yes I did, but shifting the opaqueness makes the spell way too costly for what I have in mind- I mainly want something that can catch me between leaps, maybe a platform if I want to run hands with a winged asshole.” He didn’t even flinch as one of Yasaka’s tails twitched to smack him beneath the table, even as Kunou laughed at his ‘crass language’. He ignored that, because he was still pissed that making magic shit not glow was so much more costly than turning into a fucking night light. 

Who the fuck wrote this shit- and suddenly he remembered where he was again.

“You can minimize the glow by making it so it only glows when interacted with, and make it a color that is easily dismissed.”

“Like sky blue, or white for clouds!” Ikki snapped his fingers excitedly, and spent the rest of the very long lunch spitballing magic with the strongest animal girl on the planet, with Kunou occasionally chiming in with cool magic ideas.

It was nice.

A burst of mana filled the shinai in the human’s hands as he batted away the strike from Rudolph with familiar ease- after all, he had spent what would soon be three straight months sparring with the arrogant Tengu. He was far more used to their attempts at maiming him than a ten year old should be.

A whistle entered his ear, and he immediately lashed out to the side, catching the Birdbrain’s sword with his pommel. Knocking him away, he immediately let loose a spell that sent a harsh gale out from around him, pushing back Rudolph and the stab towards his back that he attempted.

With the simultaneous openings available to Ikki, for a split second he was tempted to use the Ittou Shura and gain enough speed to take advantage of both. He discarded that idea easily and instead went for the one that was already straight ahead of him- Birdbrain would take immediate advantage of him if he turned his back on him otherwise.

So, the human huffed out a breath and then closed the distance between him and the Tengu, and slashed at his chest. The bird’s beak twisted into a sneer as he stepped back with condescending ease before the hit, only to be met with the reincarnator’s grin as he let go of the blade in the middle of the swing.

His other hand immediately latched onto the hilt to extend the arc of the swing, and let out a savage, mana enhanced slash that sent the Tengu hurtling towards the other side of their dojo. Ikki’s grin expanded even as he turned around to block the retaliating slash from Rudolph from behind.

‘Finally, I got the chance to use the Samidare!’ He cheered internally. ‘Fuck, I can’t believe this shitty style only has one move that doesn’t explicitly require fucking water to use.’

The Shigure Soen Ryu (or the Blue Swallow Style, whichever you prefer) was another anime sword style Ikki wanted to master. Unfortunately, most of it’s moves needed either magical fucking water, or a body of basic bitch water to actually be worthwhile to use.

Except the Samidare, which is essentially just a feint slash followed by switching hands to attack again in the middle of the opponents dodge. Aka, his new favorite move.

He sidestepped another slash from Rudolph, and began putting the pressure onto him- out of the pair, Rudolph was the worst when it came to dealing with constant pressure. So Ikki dodged and slashed savagely, as the red-faced Tengu blocked and failed to retaliate.

After three months of constant combat, Ikki had gotten a read on how the pair of them fought, and he had quickly learned that there was a reason Yasaka had wanted the both of them to train him together- they were both amazing in combat, but they also only had a full brain between the two of them. Birdbrain is a menace in the heat of combat, constantly innovating and pulling bullshit out of his ass just to spite his opponents- it was like they were brothers from across time and space. But… he was also a fucking dumbass, and couldn’t strategize for shit. 

While Rudolph was the opposite- he is most dangerous in the lulls of combat, which gives him time to use vicious strategies only a sadist of the highest order would come up with, but in the heat of combat he loses his cool until the other Tengu buys him time.

And with Birdbrain ‘out’, it was only a matter of time until he finally cracked!

Ikki batted away a stab to his throat once again, and forced the yokai to jump over the retaliating slash to his fucking knees, only to readjust the stick’s position and slash up to his mid-air form with as much power as he could.

Rudolph clicked his tongue, and Ikki’s genre savviness immediately put him on guard as the Tengu made for a downward slash, completely ignoring the incoming attack as his face… got even redder.

“Insolent human! Know your place, and kneel!” He spat at him as mana began flowing out of him and into his sword.

… Maybe they were just as frustrated with the constant sparring as Ikki was, he idly thought as he put as much mana into the shinai he held as he could before abandoning the strike and guarding the slash.

Which, apparently was the best decision he could’ve made, as when the blade neared a tingle on his skin was the only warning before gravity suddenly tripled. The human struggled to begin moving away, only to abandon that notion entirely as the katana crashed into his own fledgling weapon, and forced his body to strain against the strike as more and more pressure was forced onto him.

He heard wood begin to crack and his heart almost stopped, until he realized it was just the wood beneath his feet giving way. A light went on in his head.

‘If the gravity around me is increasing, and my bones aren’t cracking yet, then something else is going to give- Oh shit I’m about to get embedded into the floor, aren’t I?’

And then the floor gave way beneath his feet, the shock of losing his balance weakening the enhancement on the shinai, causing the stick to shatter and leave him open for a slash straight to the face. He flinched despite himself, closing his eyes instinctively-

Only for the pressure to instantly halt, and for Yasaka to be between both him and Rudolph when his eyes opened. He blinked, and looked downed only to realize he wasn’t holding his shinai anymore, the floor was completely whole again, and he felt like he’d just got out of a shower instead of sparring with the pair of Tengu!

{... That was all her, wasn’t it.} Zaphiel nodded in his head. {Fuck, I want that!}. He ignored the pained groaning of the angel to give due compliments for whatever Yasaka just did. Only to realize she was majorly pissed off, given the sickly sweet smile on her face and the fact Rudolph looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

He wisely kept his mouth shut.

“Explain to me why exactly you were using a spell capable of crippling werewolves on a ten-year-old.” Her kind words were backed by a monstrous amount of mana that hung in the air maliciously, almost begging to be used on the Tengu who was somehow paling.

Ikki blinked. Werewolves, ignoring all the esoteric bullshit canon is practically painted in, were well known for being one of the more durable races around. Mostly because part of their abilities involved having their entire skeleton crushed and regrown around their flesh once a month on average.

Werewolves are also known to be completely batshit insane in combat, breaking bones and severing limbs for sheer convenience when the fighting gets really good. So anything that can actually put down those fucking maniacs is fucking priceless, which just goes to show how badass he was for surviving a watered down version of the spell-

{Hey!} Zaphiel chimed in, and pulled Ikki back to reality. 

{Right, paying attention. Sorry.} He apologized, knowing his scatterbrained focus gave the angel in his noggin headaches. Which he decided not to contemplate lest he get one himself.

“I…” Rudolph sputtered, most likely having a shit ton of adrenaline pumping through him as he faced off a Ultimate Class by himself right after getting cornered by a ten-year-old. Somehow, he regained his composure and bowed his head in submission. “I apologize, Lady Yasaka. I forgot myself in combat, and used that technique against my better judgment. Forgive me.” 

She narrowed her eyes at him, and the feeling in the air only intensified before it cut off as suddenly as it appeared, as she let out a huff of air. “You will be taken through disciplinary training until you learn how to not attempt murder against a sparring partner that’s winning.” Rudolph sunk into himself even as he nodded solemnly. “And until you have proven this, you are banned from sparring with anyone.”

Rudolph opened his mouth, and an overwhelming feeling of malice filled the room as Yasaka’s smile grew. His jaw clicked shut, and Yasaka nodded, seemingly satisfied.

Then, Ikki spoke up when he realized something very important. “Wait, then I’ll have to wait to get training then?”

The both of them turned back to him, unsurprised that he focused on not getting more training instead of the fact Rudolph almost murdered him- or at the very least, gave him a wicked scar.

“No, I think we can agree you’ve more than proven yourself when it comes to swordsmanship.” Yasaka interrupted, with a look on her face that dared the target of her ire to speak against her, and for a moment it seemed like he would. But, once again, he nodded his head in submission. “Your training beneath the pair will officially begin next week.”

Ikki twitched, and gave a look behind him towards the Tengu that was currently bristling in agitation despite kneeling where he had gotten ‘ringed out’ when Yasaka had appeared. On one hand, Ikki would definitely take that win against Rudolph, but he still didn’t count the win against Birdbrain- he knew for a fucking fact that entire thing was probably just some training or test for Rudolph, and he would’ve gotten jumped otherwise.

He couldn’t accept that, but he wouldn’t disagree with her either. She had all the authority, been nothing but good to him, and he wasn’t about to spit on it just to satisfy his pride.

So Ikki nodded his head, and kept his mouth shut. He’ll have a week’s worth of time to get his pride’s worth the old fashioned way.

Either way it was time to start making magic… again!

“Fuck!” Ikki slammed the scroll down onto the table, startling Kunou who had been sitting right beside him, leaving her ears sticking straight up. “How the hell am I supposed to make this work?!”

He ran his fingers through his hair in overwhelming irritation, as he attempted to glare a hole into the paper. The difficulty with making a magical weapon had been surmounted, but now he was hitting a roadblock right on the verge of greatness!

He was so close to fulfilling his nerdy, weeb dreams and summoning a katana from thin air, and it was pissing him the hell off!

{Zaph, any ideas?}

{... Ikki, making magical weapons on command is what I was practically born to do. I can’t help you anymore than a bird can teach you how to fly.} A palm slammed onto his forehead, and the human groaned in despair at essentially being tripped right before passing the starting line.

“What do you need help with?” A soft and curious voice brought Ikki’s eyes up to meet the young kitsune’s golden ones right beside him. He let out a breath and easily slid the scroll to her, holding back the urge to let his pride do the talking. “Oh, what’s wrong with the spell this time?”

Ikki gave her a sharp look, which she received with a slightly too innocent expression, but let the jab go easily and went to explain. “Actually, finishing Air Step gave me everything I needed to make a regular sword outta mana. It’s just the fact that… I can’t find a way to add a magic ability to it!” He complained, as one of his very few original ideas barely got off the ground before crashing and burning.

His magic leeching was very much dangerous, since while it gave him affinities based on the spells he was hit by, it did not mean he was guaranteed to survive said blows. Considering he didn’t want his last words to be, “Hey, that’s a cool spell-” his genius move was to make his sword do the same thing he did.

… It was a lot easier than it should have been, thanks to the great and knowledgeable Archangel currently stuck in his head, all praise her unending wisdom. And also the adorable blush that was on her non-existent face, because Pride is a sin and therefore she doesn’t have constant compliments floating around in her head. Poor girl, his mind was filled with hype and he turned out fine!

{...} Somehow, her silence was more insulting than any spoken word could ever be.

“Is it one you already have?” The human nodded, and received a childish version of the ‘innocent’ expression her mother had given him just a few nights ago.

“You already know how to fix this, don’t you?” Her sunny expression said far more than she could, and Ikki began enacting his revenge the only way an esteemed guard such as himself is capable of.

After a good fifteen minutes of tickling the everloving hell out of the small child, as she futilely tried to escape her due punishment for the crimes of acting as smug as her mother far too early, Kunou stopped giggling and began telling him exactly what he wanted to know.

Apparently, abilities based on the users biology are super fucking easy to use, and even a bland-ass human like him could just want his spells to carry the trait particularly hard.

… Zaph immediately informed the human that he couldn’t make actual spells that drained affinities for him, as it would drain the spell it was woven around. Spellsword Creation was the exception, as the spell was intended for the creation of enchanted constructs, but there weren’t a lot of spells that instantly made enchanted shit for free. And alchemy was exempt from his mimicry, since he couldn’t leech knowledge.

A very sad setback, but still not enough to dull the pure fucking hype as he finally finished that fucking spell after three straight months of studying and experimenting since he refused to let this spell be one he had Zaphiel automate for him. After all, what kind of isekai protagonist couldn’t even use his sword without the help of a waifu?

{I can hear what you’re thinking, and I’d like to remind you that Lust is a SIN.} Zaphiel snarked at him, though there was no heat to it. 

{Eh, we’ll cross that road when we come to it.} He shrugged, then shook his head and refocused on the beginning of his story of… of… whatever the fuck someone’ll call it when he starts making a name in the supernatural world!

Either way, he was not delaying this anymore.

So, ignoring Kunou (who had set up a variety of shielding spells and was bunkered with a bunch of ‘hidden’ guards in case he exploded, faithless bastards) he held out his fist in the air and began casting his spell.

A small magic circle appeared by the side of his fist, and he gripped the air right beside it with his other hand, before taking a breath. As a cultured weeb, he took inspiration from Bleach, again, for the words he’d use for this spell. And after agonizing it alongside his struggles with the spell itself, he finally came up with something that fit. 

“Ravage them, Kurogane!” He pulled his hand back, as if drawing a sword from an invisible sheathe, and a sword appeared in his hands. Overall, it was the standard katana, even if the metal was a dull black instead of iron. The only truly unique part of it was the chain that hung from the bottom of the hilt, that he immediately grabbed onto and began spinning the entirety of the weapon on his finger.

{God I’m such a fucking unoriginal hack, and I fucking love it!} An enthusiastic grin split his face, and the human ignored everything around him as he swung the sword of his creation through the air, relishing just how right it felt in his hands.

{As adorable as it is watching you geek out over holding your sword for the first time,} Ikki immediately stopped as he tried to comprehend the fact that an angel just made a dick joke, unwittingly or not. {If you’re going to do what you plan on doing, which I still think is dumb by the way, you definitely won’t have the time to… ‘git gud’ enough to win.}

The reincarnator chuckled at her unneeded concern.{Ah, Zaphiel. I’m sorry to inform you, but despite how I act I am more than a glory-lusting meathead. I’m also an unrepentant nerd, so it’s time to start min-maxing.}

{... I really don’t want to ask, but how?}

His grin grew even more than before, in a haunting expression that sent chills down the angel’s non-existent back. {... How good are you at illusions?} 

For an unknowable amount of time, Ikki was caught in the gap between wakefulness and unconsciousness, and could feel his mind creak as something completely and utterly unnatural happened to his mind. Like he was slowly drowning in a sea of oil, grease seeping into his mouth as he lacked the strength to even spit it back out. He was trapped between himself, and nothing would be able to save him before his mind shattered-

Suddenly, he was awake, and gasped as the phantom sensations of oil slowly crawling down his throat and clogging his lungs faded. He dry heaved for a good few minutes as every hair on his body stood on end in his panic, until he eventually calmed down again.

“Sorry Zaph, that definitely didn’t-” The human then realized he was speaking out loud instead of thinking the words at the Archangel. He blinked, and began taking in his surroundings.

He was sitting atop the tallest hill in a rolling field, with gaps of flat land amongst uneven grounding- perfect for training nonstandard footing. The sky was dotted with fluffy clouds that were attached with an odd nostalgia that he immediately knew belonged to his mental freeloader. He looked back and saw he was leaning against a rough tree trunk, though he wasn’t getting even a spot of shade.

He looked up, and immediately saw where Zaphiel put the majority of their artistic talent, as he saw the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen in either life. A cascade of leaves fluttering in the wind, creating a mass of colors- reds and blues and any other color he could think of- that all shifted through slowly and thoughtfully.

A splash of supposedly random colors held the reincarnator’s gaze for a good few minutes, some baser part of himself demanded he watch the grandeur that was happening in front of him, as if afraid it would somehow be lesser the next time he saw it.

Ikki narrowed his eyes and smacked himself across the face, wincing at the stinging pain as he forced himself up and walked out from beneath the tree. “Zaph, what the fuck is up with that tree?”

“Oh, that?” A coy voice came out from everywhere and nowhere all at once, and the human began rubbing his temples at the sheer fuckery that was happening around him. Then again, it may have been his fault for letting the Archangel of Knowledge have free reign on illusioning his greymatter. “Just testing your ability to resist illusions, to see how strong I’ll need to make things here. Honestly, you did better than I expected, especially since I’ve apparently gotten a lot better with illusions.”

He took the ego-boost for what it was, and began stretching, before remembering he was literally in his head, and nothing he did in there would affect his body. Damn this was going to get confusing. “Thanks, but we should probably get things out of the way. How strong can you make the time dilation here?”

“I refuse to do anything higher than a week per night.” Ikki blinked. Well that was an oddly specific amount- “Any higher will have adverse effects on your psyche. Don’t underestimate how damaging full-power, all-encompassing illusions can be to your brain.” The human could only nod at that, easily agreeing to Zaphiel’s constraints. After all, he knew fuck-all about most magic shit, so if the Archange said it was bad for him, he’d believe her. He also ignored the feeling of being pointedly stared at as the idea of how to weaponize those illusions flitted across his mind.

“Alright alright, damn. So, what else can we do other than up my senses?” Half the reason Ikki had come up with the idea of a full-dive into a mental illusion in his own subconscious, was for the ease that Zaphiel could let their instincts interact, so Ikki could gain even more of her advanced reaction times and other godly senses.

“Well, I have studied almost every race of supernatural beings to the point of redundancy, including their most basic fighting styles, so I could also give you illusionary sparring partners of various strengths.” Zaphiel gave, and immediately began chuckling at all the enthusiasm that the reincarnator was giving off. “You can also use this place to practice your spells and such, there’s more than enough space for it here after all.”

“Thanks! How long have you been sitting on that empty-head joke?” Ikki gave a knowing look to the sky.

“Second you told me this was your plan for my illusions.” He nodded at her prompt response, before drawing out Kurogane and resting the blade’s spine against his shoulder.

“Atta girl, now show me how I compare with… I don’t know, an exorcist?” He gave an uncertain shake of his hand, before waving it off. “Surprise me, I guess.”

He then ducked under the surging strike of a behemoth of a man’s fist, and the human immediately cursed and hit him with a surge of wind to knock him a good few miles away. “Zaph, why the fuck is he built like a shit brick house?!” The man dressed in a priest’s robes was a towering seven feet tall bare minimum, and he looked like he needed an expanded set of double doors to enter any building without breaking a fucking hole in it.

“Don’t worry, he’s one of the most combat-oriented priests I know of, so he’ll be a good fight. Promise!” Ikki hated the fact that he knew that she was playing him, and the fact it was working anyway.

“Fuck it, fine! I’ll beat the shit out of him! Come at me, bible boy!” He cheered and started what would be a five-day long brawl inside his head which would greatly inflate his ego when he won. Only for Zaphiel to suddenly give Father Roid a fucking stick and for the big bastard to deflate his massive ego that he’d earned through blood!

… He then spent the rest of that week fighting various versions of the man baptized in Holy Protein Shakes up until he couldn’t beat them anymore. Where the ‘angel’ would give the anointed bastard bigger and stronger weapons to kick his ass with. Ikki thinks Zaphiel laughing at his impotent rage was what eventually woke him up.

The reincarnator was again, practicing a new spell after doing his obligatory sword training- nothing too interesting in swinging a fucking sword over and over for three hours straight right after getting beat by the patron saint of Gym rats himself. Even the enhanced gravity to increase the speed of his gains (Thank you Rudolph) didn’t suddenly make doing katas more interesting. So, magic.

He just wanted to get one movement spell under control, and it was not hard to guess which one he wanted.

The fact of the matter is, he did make the spell, and was a natural at using it. The only problem was… not using it.

The human pulled himself out of a newly made trench, ignoring the death glares the groundskeepers gave him as he continued to train his Shunpo- or Flash Step, whenever he wanted to use English to confuse his Japanese enemies. (And feel cool doing it)

Or when he eventually reached his limits when it came to screaming out Japanese words before committing murder.

Either way, his Flash Step had exactly zero breaks available, and using a Flash Step to stop a Flash Step is something he is absolutely sure won’t work here. And unfortunately, he already knew how to stop with Flash Step- the hard part was the fact that step one needed him to use the move that left him comatose for three days after.

So, training to stop was on the menu for this week.

Ikki got into a stance on solid ground, and began casting the spell. It was a simple thing, just reinforce the legs, use wind magic to pull the air out of his way to achieve negative drag, and place a gale under his feet for movement.. He won’t even need the gale once his body isn't prepubescent anymore. He kicked off the ground, and almost gained tunnel-vision (Thanks Zaph), as he zoomed across the field.

Usually, when he tries to stop, his feet plow into the dirt and end up either forcing him in place or tripping him so hard he leaves a crater/trench. This time, before he tried and failed in doing that, he used the first spell he’d ever created instead.

Air Step created a platform right before he landed, and that invisible foothold took the majority of the momentum from his attempt. For a split second, Ikki was filled with pride in finally finding a way not to eat shit everytime he wanted to go slightly faster, until the platform shattered from the impact and he began skidding across the ground, and only barely kept from face planting into the dirt.

When he eventually stopped, he took a breath, before nodding to himself.

“It’s a start. Now… to keep doing what I’ve been doing, only with more mana costs…” Ikki huffed out a breath, before walking back to position. No rest for the wicked, especially when they’re planning to be bigger assholes than normal.

It was surprisingly easy to find the specific Tengu Ikki was looking for, given the fact he was glaring at him from where he was shining his sword. Fucking loser, that was exactly the reason magic swords were vastly superior. ‘OoOoH, maintenance is part of being a swordsman!’ 

Bullshit, you’re just a bum.

“What do you want, human?” The feathered yokai visibly dismissed him to continue polishing his weapon, which caused the human to bristle before he forced himself to focus.

“A real win against you.” The Tengu paused in his wiping, glancing back up at the unyielding expression on Ikki’s face. “We made a deal, and I haven’t made good on it. I can’t just accept a fucking handout when I was supposed to prove myself.”

A scoff escaped the yokai’s black beak, and beady red eyes looked down at him. “You’re throwing away a free lesson from two of the greatest swordsmen in Lady Yasaka’s employ, all because you didn’t like how you got it? You humans are all the same, arrogant to the point of madness.”

Gray eyes narrowed at the feathered swordsman before him, irritation clear from the twitching of his eye. “Do you think I’m a fucking idiot? Of course I’m not going to reject the lessons, especially since Rudolph’s fuckup is what got me here.” Ikki was of the firm belief that there was nothing dishonorable about taking advantage of your enemy’s fuckups. ‘We take those’ is a valid response to being handed the best training possible.

Despite all the things that would tell you otherwise, the reincarnate did have a brain beneath all his bluster and pride. The path to greatness was already paved, he wasn’t going to reject it out of hand for shits and giggles.

No, the real issue was…

“I haven’t beat you yet. I may not need to earn my training now, but I haven’t proved myself yet. Not to you.” The yokai paused for a moment, before chuckling softly as he rose up to his towering height, blade drawn.

“Hah. Look at you. Seems you have some honor after all.” Ikki’s expression didn’t twitch from the mask of steely determination he wore, but his eyes burned with hidden excitement. “Fine. If you really want to prove yourself, I have a test for you.”

And, before the human’s gaze, he witnessed a Tengu smile for the first time. It sent chills down his back.

And put a smile on his face.

Many hours after that meeting with Birdbrain, Ikki found himself in a very familiar position.

He was sitting in a locker room, the expected chill of the night kept out through the various talismans (He still couldn’t believe that was the proper name for them) placed inside the room that he could now mostly decipher. He was currently sitting on a magical bench, due to the fact the cold steel felt as comfortable as the massive pillows Yasaka dragged around with her.

… He was talking about her tails, of course.

He shook his head, feeling relaxed despite himself and the roaring crowd above him. Or, maybe those cries for blood and violence were what made him feel at home?

After all, he was in a fight club again, waiting for his next match.

More specifically one of many hidden Youth Warrior Tournaments that filled Urakyoto, the separate dimension where all yokai in Kyoto resided primarily. Now, anyone who knew of Ikki’s old life (just Zaphiel, actually) would wonder why the reincarnate wasn’t currently being filled with disgust at returning to his old ways.

He freely admitted that while part of him yearned for violence, he also yearned for glory. And none could be found in a hidden away bloodsport arena. So, why was he still here, when the only rush he could find was one worse than what he could get anywhere else?

Two reasons. First, these Underside fight club/cage-matches are very much necessary for the Yokai Faction to function in any way.

Due to the politics Ikki had been forced to learn amongst all the cool shit he’s been doing, he understands that the ‘Yokai Faction’ is actually two separate factions that join together when dealing with ‘outsider’ factions.

In actuality, Yasaka is the leader of the West Yokai Faction, which is the public face of the centralized Yokai faction. Mostly because West Yokai are way more tolerable than their Eastern counterparts, as the East Yokai faction stick to their… traditional roots. Those roots being raping, murdering, and cursing any person they find.

Seriously, those guys are fucked in the head. The only reason that Yasaka hasn’t dissolved that faction and labeled them under the Stray system like the Biblical Factions do, is because the West doesn’t want war with the East.

In all honesty, Yasaka herself can shred through the other faction, given that their destructive ways apply to everyone with no exceptions. But, Yasaka’s bond with the ley lines in Kyoto mean she physically cannot leave the city without losing most of her power.

And the reality is, the constant survival of the fittest approach their society has means their foot soldiers are stronger than Yasaka’s. The West would still win, but everyone Faction is terrified of reenacting the Devil Civil War and wiping out entire bloodlines of their own people, if only for the fact they would lose power.

Why was Ikki thinking about politics? Well, aside from the test he had in the morning, the reason Yasaka allowed these tournaments (and she obviously knew about all of them, she was Ultimate Class for a reason) was because all yokai naturally have the inclinations that the East have. Those guys just completely gave into them, but as the West are trying to be civil, they have to regulate their urges.

Which means brothels and fight clubs, so at least their instincts could be let loose in a consensual manner.

The second reason why Ikki was going through with this task, was Birdbrain’s challenge and his words.

Considering what happened during Ikki’s last spar, it was no surprise that neither swordsmen wanted to test the Kyuubi’s patience with an unregulated spar.

So, Birdbrain offered the human an alternative.

Win the tournament, and he’d acknowledge him as his student.

Ikki had hesitated, but the words Birdbrain had spoken to him shook off any lingering distaste he had.

Honor.

He wasn’t going to fight in the Underside again for shits and giggles this time. No, he was doing this for his pride- his honor.

He clutched at the word like a lifeline, feeling all the memories of familiar waiting rooms fade like dust beneath the sense of purpose that filled him.

He was fighting for a reason, albeit one that was still inherently selfish. But it was better than chasing a high, and he’d still get that same rush doing this instead. It wasn’t too different from what he’d done, but he’d ignore it this time.

After all, he had a goal to fulfill

He’ll make that feathered fuck admit that he was worthy through action, and nothing would stop him. Except maybe Yasaka, because that woman was terrifying.

And, before he knew it, it was finally showtime.

A/N: HOLY FUCK.

Sorry, this shit has been sitting at 8k words for a while now, and I’ve decided that I need a fresh page to start everything off with.

To explain anything weird or off with this chapter- it was mainly written a long while back and I’d just forgotten about it, Vessel is my attempt at getting better with third-person perspective, and I absolutely need an empty page to finish off this mini-arc before the real plot starts kicking in.

Sorry that this chapter is mostly Ikki training, but it’s best I get this out of the way so he can be crazy strong in the future.

Thank you all for reading, hopefully it isn’t literal years before the next update (which fits my track record honestly), Peace.