Game of Monsters - 216

I Can’t Erase This Feeling

[Joshua Davis]

Even after passing out and staying that way for the better part of two days, only sporadically waking up for about an hour or less each time, he still felt like he’d drop at any moment.

Not all of it was because of the now infinite source of power that he had, but that was the biggest problem he was dealing with, and it wasn’t even close. Funny how he’d thought his effort to forgo sleep would be crazy, considering how utterly overshadowed that was in the wake of his new, Ophis-induced issue. Not to say that hadn’t sucked, because it certainly had. It’d made an already bad time worse, truth be told, but Joshua was making do after getting some rest.

“You’re not allowed to work, Mr. Davis,” Ravel told him, like she did whenever he got particularly lost in thought. He could only smile wryly at her though, feeling Koneko stiffen where she sat on his lap and Kunou narrow her eyes at him as she looked up from her notebook. The three of them had, apparently, either been given or self-appointed themselves the duty of watching him like hawks. At the smallest sign that he was doing something not conducive to his recovery and adaptation to his new situation, they’d call him out on it and deliver swift and merciless amounts of judgement.

It was surprisingly effective.

Not only because Joshua had passed out before they could reach him after Ophis did her thing, which weighed considerably in his mind, but also because he knew they’d been worried in the month leading up to that. They were very rarely in agreement over something too, so that gave them even more power over him, if only because he wanted to encourage them to get along. So, all in all, everything seemed to line up to make the three girls get what they wanted, and that was him taking it easy.

Not that he didn’t want to, but nobody seemed to realize that he liked tinkering.

“I wasn’t even thinking about spells,” Joshua grumbled. He wasn’t even lying. He’d just been thinking about his situation. That was all. Evidenced by the looks he got though, nobody believed him… which was fair, but still hurtful. “I can’t even get my brain to string thoughts together for tinkering anyway,” he mumbled, leaning forward to pick up his cup of tea.

He’d have thought that was uncomfortable for Koneko, sitting on his lap as she was, but the girl seemed to take no issue with that or any other motions he might have made. Not that he was doing a whole lot of… anything, really. He’d been awake for about four hours and the most strenuous thing he’d done was eat. From there, his three daughters – who would he fool, calling them anything else? – had made it their life mission to make sure he did nothing.

Which was nice, admittedly.

When he’d first heard, he thought he’d be bored to death within five minutes, admittedly, but that was far from the case. Instead, he got to sit where they were, watching them all to their thing. Koneko was practicing senjutsu, Ravel was working on his future schedule and brainstorming some things that he could do once he was recovered so that he could get back on track and Kunou was doing some homework for her classes.

The latter was supposed to be in classes, admittedly, but neither Yasaka nor Joshua had the heart to send her away. So, instead, she was doing some make-up work so that she wouldn’t fall behind too much. A few days wouldn’t be an issue, after all, especially since Kunou was far from a poor student.

“You’re getting better at that,” he commented idly, getting a hum from Koneko, who was currently trying her best to do the soothing senjutsu thing with him. Joshua was still not quite sure what that technique was, his studies in the subject not quite as advanced as he’d have liked them to be. Most of his focus was on magic, after all, everything else got just enough attention that he was making progress, but that was about it.

Not ideal, but life was hardly ever good enough to allow ideal stuff to happen.

Magic was Joshua’s strong suit, it was what allowed him to do the most. Senjutsu was neat, as was True Longinus, but they weren’t as versatile as magic was. True Longinus was good for one thing and one thing only, and senjutsu could be great… but it was a little limited and it required too much work to reach a good enough level. He could mostly get the same results for the latter with magic with a fraction of the time, really. It didn’t replace senjutsu entirely, admittedly, but it made it less of a priority in his mind.

True Longinus… he’d admit it was a bit of a waste to set it aside as he had, but that was unavoidable. It was the greatest at the one thing it could do, and that was a very useful thing, true. But a jack of all trades was often better than a master of one, and Joshua was applying that logic to his decision to focus on magic.

If he needed a hammer to smash down a nail that stuck out, he could pull cards and point Sirzechs and Ajuka towards the aforementioned nail. That was, provided that he couldn’t make do with his array of resources, which was unlikely. Maybe things had finally gotten to his head a little, what with literal infinity at his fingertips, but Joshua thought there weren’t likely to be a lot of things those two could do that he couldn’t.

But then again, maybe he could-

“Is it helping?” Koneko mumbled, nibbling on a cookie and looking firmly forward and away from him.

“Yeah, it is,” he replied, dropping his head back and staring at the ceiling through half-closed eyelids. He felt tired and not, like when one sleeps too much and wakes up feeling sleepy still, but worse. In a way, it made sense, but he had a feeling that most of it had nothing to do with how much he’d slept and more to do with the power coursing through his body, pushing against his skin as if he were a balloon that had been filled with way too much water and yet refused to burst.

[}-o-{]

After a meal and halfway through the next, Joshua wondered if he’d ever stop feeling too full to eat.

He could force the issue, of course, the same way one made space for dessert even if they already feel full, but the problem remained. With power filling him up like someone was trying to make him explode, it was difficult to muster the need to add more to himself, even if food had nothing to do with magic, not directly at least. It just felt like it’d be too much and he couldn’t quite put that feeling aside much as he tried.

“Joshua?” Gabriel called and he looked up to see a slightly concerned look on the angel’s expression. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah,” he answered, a little weakly, which was why he continued right afterwards. “I just… This is going to take a while to get used to,” he commented, fidgeting with the fork in his hand the smallest bit. Even something as simple as holding the utensil felt odd, with all the magic in the world right under his skin. Closest comparison he could use was like trying to do stuff while under the effects of anesthesia, even if it was also nothing like that. It carried the same sense of oddness though, even if not the numbing part. Maybe doing stuff with gloves was more accurate, although he didn’t feel like it was.

“Maybe we should have stayed at home,” Gabriel said and the fact that she meant his and Yasaka’s place as home made him smile. However, he was of a completely different opinion on the matter and he wasted no time letting her know.

“No, I want to get out,” he replied, maybe more firmly than he intended. He hoped he hadn’t sounded too harsh, but… but he didn’t like the idea that she thought staying home would help. “I’ve spent the better part of a whole month holed up at home, I want to go outside, do stuff.”

It was a little funny though, that he felt like that. Joshua had never been one to go outside a lot, and he didn’t enjoy it, not really. He would much rather stay at home and relax, if he were honest. Nothing better than having his family around him and a cup of tea close by.

However, being forced to stay at his place, working all day with the lives of everyone he loved on the line had been about the opposite of the good time he liked to have at home. Living like that for a whole month had made him want to do anything other than staying in. Hell, he didn’t even really feel like spellcrafting, at least not just yet.

His mind strayed a little here and there with ideas and such, but other than that, Joshua was perfectly fine not spending time working on stuff. He was taking a well earned vacation, after all. Nevermind the fact that he’d have to go back to working on things after he recovered, since Ophis would come back for another work check up. That was a worry for another time though, and Joshua wasn’t too eager to care for that.

“I guess that’s fair,” Gabriel said, looking a little relieved. “I’m not complaining about you taking it easy and spending time with me, I can tell you that,” she added with a wider smile. It made Joshua all the happier just to see that, if he were honest, even if he could only half-enjoy that. The other half of him couldn’t quite push away the feeling of magic.

It was always there, inevitable, dragging his mind to acknowledge that it was there. There was no ignoring it, no being distracted from it. And if he somehow managed, it made it all the worse when the moment passed and he was once more reminded of it.

“Happy to be, taking it easy and spending time with you,” he replied. It was a simple statement, he knew. An eloquent guy, Joshua was not, however. He was even less of one when it came to social settings and further more useless at it in romantic settings. Somehow though, it seemed to work for him anyway, if the beaming was anything to go by. He didn’t know how he’d gotten lucky enough to get one of the partners he had, let alone three, but he’d always be grateful. “So, where do you want to go after we’re done here?” he asked.

Idly, he forced himself not to grimace as he turned back to his meal and took another bite. Good thing he’d picked a dish that was very light. More of an appetizer than an actual meal, really, and it still felt like he was trying to eat for three people, somehow.

“Well, there was this park that’s close by that I wanted to see,” the angel told him and Joshua nodded immediately. Gabriel would never have to convince him to see one of the spots she wanted. Her enthusiasm and happiness while they visited places was all the motivation he needed, really, although that didn’t mean the spots were bad or boring… for the most part.

Either way, with how oddly weak/powerful he felt, he found himself looking forward to the warm, fluffy feel of watching his partner enjoy herself about as much as she looked forward to seeing that park. Probably more, actually. Actually, now that he thought about it…

“Can’t wait to see you seeing it,” he commented with a grin and he was rewarded with a slight blush that made him feel like an absolute winner in life. Joshua still thought he sucked at romance, but if he could stumble on victories anyway, he’d take it.

[}-o-{]

Being on sick leave was great and all, but it became an evident problem when schedules didn’t align.

Surprisingly, or maybe not, it didn’t happen often, but it did happen. Serafall and Gabriel were usually the ones to be free when everyone else was in school or working and such, considering their schedules weren’t really fixed to any specific time… much. Heaven and the Underworld had their own “timezones”, but they also did a lot of stuff in the Mortal World as the ones in charge of foreign relations, so…

They tended to run weird hours and that allowed them to be available when everyone else might not be.

Sometimes though, the stars aligned in the wrong way and everyone was busy. Normally, he’d use that time to just… work on something, but he wasn’t really feeling like doing that those days. Thus, he’d had a few minutes to ponder where to go and what to do while he waited on everyone else. It was a little surprising how much of his life was based around magic and work.

No, he did not include magic into work, even if he knew others would disagree.

‘What to do, what to do?’ he thought idly, sitting in the garden of Yasaka’s place – Their place? He was never sure about that. – and considering his options. All the while, he couldn’t say he was too stressed. His familiars were doing a great job of distracting him with all sorts of things being sent through their bond. Margalo’s song was particularly nice, but Morag was making some new web designs in real time that was neat to watch too.

Cheshire would sometimes leave and go hunting for a bit, which was neat to watch through the bond, feeling the thrill of it with her and all that. Nagini was having fun snipping birds out of the sky with her eyes too, which was… something, but those made for good snacks for Morag and Margalo, he supposed. A little morbid, but he’d grown out of that awkwardness after so long with his very particular familiars.

“You can stop trying anytime, Friday,” he commented, a little amused as the spell did her version of a groan in his mind.

She’d been trying to syphon magic out of him ever since he came back with Ophis’ blessing, but it was kind of impossible to lessen the burden of magic on him when it was infinite. She tried anyway though, no matter how much he tried to convince her to let it go. The spell would keep trying, powering everything she could connect with with more and more magic that she took from him.

She’d even taken to casting spells as much as she could, helping him with every little thing with frankly overkill amounts of power behind the spells. There were always little illusions, flashes of light and wisps of color all around the place. Kunou seemed to have joined in on that fun too, giving Friday illusions to cast here and there as a joint project of some kind.

“Fine, be stubborn,” he commented with a roll of his eyes as the living spell kept casting.

That gave him an idea though.

‘Wonder if they’ll notice,’ he mused to himself. With a deep breath in, he summoned his status screen and glanced at a particular number that had seen a sharp change since the last time he checked.

[Magic: 1215]

His magic stat had tripled with Ophis’s Touched by Infinity. He’d been confused for a moment, before remembering that magic reserves wasn’t the only thing that the Magic stat took into account. So, either the Game had decided that his control was poor enough to warrant the decrease from Infinity to just triple the initial number or it’d decided to account for what he could reasonably use, what his body could reasonably be expected to output, despite the difference between that and what he had available.

That was the best theory he had.

Funnily enough though…

[Joshua Davis

Title: Domain Authority

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Rank: SSS

Strength: S-

Speed: S-

Dexterity: S-

Vitality: S

Perception: S-

Magic: EX

Life: A+]

‘EX is probably where the Game just gives up and stops giving further stages,’ he thought, unless there was a stage for literal infinity, in which case EX was second to that, he imagined. ‘Being SSS… I thought it’d feel different,’ he couldn't help but add wryly.

For one, he’d expected to feel powerful, not like he was a step away from dying at any given moment.

Back to his initial thought though…

‘What do you think?’ he asked Cheshire through their bond and the cat stopped licking her paw, looked up and meowed. That didn’t really tell him much, but the mix of emotions and thoughts she sent through the bond was much more helpful. ‘Well, guess we’re paying a surprise visit to some people,’ he decided, taking a deep breath in and standing up.

Even that felt strange, admittedly, but he was learning to push past that. Maybe it’d always be there, but at least he wasn’t pausing at every little thing, nor was he grimacing and flinching at odd feelings. Progress was progress, he supposed. Maybe in a few more days, he’d feel like he could function properly and all. That’d be the day, honestly, because as much as he was enjoying the break, he did need to get back to work eventually, or Ophis would likely not be too pleased with him.

‘Don’t worry about that, Joshua,’ he told himself, aware that his partners would have done exactly that if they were around. ‘What do you think?’ he asked, this time to the presences he felt through his connection to the Egyptian pantheon.

The can of beer that appeared out of thin air in front of him was answer enough, he supposed. ‘Nephthys being the best of the best once again, huh?’ he commented jokingly, but the gods seemed to take that to heart, because a moment later there were snacks and other drinks appearing around him.

That was funny, but also kind of useful.

[}-o-{]

‘Does what I’ve done for House of Water count as returning the favor? Because I feel like I owe you plenty, Nephthys,’ he commented in his mind and that had nothing to do with how good the still cold beer he was drinking was… or the fact that it was his third one. The goddess had done a lot for him, not the least of which was kickstarting a lot of things through House of Water and her favor back when he was just starting to get her pantheon’s attention.

Nevermind all the help she’d offered in regards to magic.

Fortunately, her answer was to top up his beer, which was very telling, really. Maybe the mutually beneficial relationship worked well for everyone involved. Although, if his life in DxD so far was anything to go by, Joshua had to wonder if the goddess didn’t feel like she owed him. Everyone seemed to always end up thinking that one way or another.

‘Happy to be of service,’ was all he thought/said back to the goddess then, taking another gulp from his beer.

Idly, he noticed that he was drawing gazes all around, but he wasn’t too concerned with that. After having to stand in front of Ophis to present the fruits of his labor… Attention from people far beneath him wasn’t something he bothered to think about overly much.

…

The thought made him pause.

That was very arrogant, wasn’t it? It was still the truth though, even if he thought it sounded very wrong. Most of the people he passed by weren’t a threat of any kind, not even to the people he loved. They might have opinions about what he did, or his appearance, or stupid stuff like that, but what did he care about that?

Joshua couldn’t believe he’d ever cared, really.

Funny how being stared down by infinity could change one’s perception on things.

Ultimately, he reached his destination with those thoughts in mind. He pushed them aside immediately though, since he was supposed to be relaxing. Before entering, he took a moment to ponder what he was really doing there. How sad was his life that, when he didn’t have anyone around and he had all the time in the world, he felt like going there.

‘I need more hobbies,’ he thought to himself wryly before reaching for the door and opening it.

There was a hush that fell on the room as he stepped in, but that was expected. He didn’t let that get to him though, walking in like it was the most natural thing in the world. He kept himself calm, as he moved, reaching the desk and sitting behind it.

“Keep going, Levi,” he said, leaning back on his chair and taking another gulp from his beer. His class seemed to be doing well, all things considered. Nobody was overly worried by his arrival, which meant nobody had been a piece of shit to Levi, not recently, at least. Levi was doing a good job in his lecture too, which was to be expected, as far as Joshua was concerned. “Things going alright here?” he asked Ravel then, startling her.

It took her sharp mind a moment to realize that he’d isolated their conversation from the rest of the class.

“There were some stumbles here and there,” the Phenex answered, her tone professional as always. “But the rest of the Stars managed to smooth over whatever Levi himself couldn’t,” the blonde added and he nodded slowly. “I’ve noted it all down already and I have some ideas for things you could do for them, sir.”

“Smart as always,” he replied with a grin. He guessed he was predictable like that, especially to Ravel. He was not at all surprised, but he did find it kind of impressive all the same. “You think he’s ready to fully take over?”

“Not yet, but soon, maybe as an assistant teacher for a while and teaching some classes with oversight for a while,” Ravel answered and he nodded. That made sense. “His classes aren’t bad, but they aren’t as good as yours.” She wasn’t just saying that to butter him up either, Joshua realized a good few minutes into the lecture Levi was giving.

He wasn’t bad, but he tried too hard to teach. His explanations ran too long, he answered too many questions, too often repeated ones, he gave too many examples. He was trying really, really hard to make sure everyone learned and that wasn’t a bad thing, but it meant his classes were slow.

Again, not a bad thing, really, but he’d have to make sure it was worth his time.

“He might need someone to overlook things just as you do, sir,” Ravel commented wryly and he grinned at her.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a friend that’d be interested, right?” he asked, mostly in jest. However, he was surprised when, a second later, the Phenex took on a thoughtful expression. “I was joking, but that’d probably settle any debt I might have with the guy,” he mused out loud.

“Sir, the poor man is so in debt with you it’s not funny. You know that, right?” Ravel commented and he blinked. “Of course you don’t.”

“... Eh, do it anyway.”

“... Sometimes I wonder how good an idea it is to be on your good side instead of being your enemy, Mr. Davis,” Ravel commented wryly and he just grinned and shrugged. “At least those just die.”

“But you wouldn’t get any more Levia-tan Marathons with ridiculous amounts of popcorn.”

“True enough,” she acknowledged with the same utmost seriousness she’d had through the entire conversation. She was funny that way, he’d learned with time. “Are you here for anything in particular, sir?”

“I had free time and nothing better to do,” he answered with another shrug and taking a gulp of his beer. “Wanna go for ice-cream after this?” he asked and he almost laughed at the way the girl perked up.

Apparently, she had forgotten that there was a class of people watching them. Not that it’d change much. He rather doubted they’d respect her less no matter what she did. She was, after all, the one in charge of managing his power with the magician associations, for the most part. She could and would ruin them if they thought they were funny a little too much.

“Yeah,” she replied and he took it as a victory that she looked almost childish as she did so.

And also that he had almost forgotten how utterly overwhelmed with magic he was.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Our boy is winding down from what he’s been put through. I’ll try not to take a million chapters in this infinity-recovery arc of sorts, but I feel we’ve hyperfocused for a while and so has Joshua. So, I – and he – should take some time to visit some of the things that have been pushed around.

Either way, I know some people aren’t great fans of this kind of “recovery” periods, but I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter all the same.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Any projects you’re working on? For my part, other than, you know, on-going stories, I do have a few other stories I’m working on at the moment. Other than that though… not really.

See you.

PS: I forgot to mention, but I'll be dropping a Character Sheet updated to chapter 215 in the Discord server.