Telos Karma Meta Gacha

[Hajime POV]

It was now sunrise, and I had a few things to do.

Firstly, I went to the front desk to extend our room stay.

With the $80,000 we received yesterday, we could stay here for months, which I planned to do. In addition to hunting the other rogues on the island, this would give us more time to train.

Speaking of training, secondly, I needed to pick a new character to assimilate.

That's right! Yesterday, I maxed out on Laxus' assimilation.

I now had access to his most powerful spells, including fairy law.

Despite that, I needed to be careful with it. A spell that could defeat any enemies I had was powerful, but it would also make me a target if a war were to start.

Looking through my options, I chose Hekiji Tengai.

His defensive abilities were one of My Hero Academia's strongest, and his Barrier only broke because Fatgum overpowered him.

Thankfully, Laxus' powers would counteract Hekiji's lower stamina and weaker constitution, making Barrier far stronger than before.

{ Assimilation Progress : 30% }

The progress was already further than Laxus was. It makes sense since I'm already far stronger than him physically and can project his Barrier.

I'll need to use the Barrier to block attacks to finish the progression.

Anyway, it was time for me to call Yasaka and get the familiar ritual for Tsubaki.

-----

[Yasaka POV]

Unfortunately, it was barely morning, yet I was already at work.

You would think that as the leader of yokai, I would have more time to myself, but no.

Rather than sleeping in or having time to enjoy breakfast, I'm stuck here filling out paperwork.

I don't even know why I even have to do this!

What's the point in keeping me here doing paperwork? There are so many better things I could be doing with my time.

Ugh.

My phone rang as I finished signing the paper and put it to the side.

| Hajime |

Oh? It's been a few days since he called.

Picking up, I was immediately greeted by his voice. "Hello, Auntie?"

"Hi, Hajime. How are things going?"

"Great! Last night, I got $80,000 and a few magic artifacts from two rogues."

"That's great! How have you been holding up having to kill people?"

"It sucks. Even knowing they deserved it didn't help. How'd you get over your first kill?"

"Hmm. I just imagined the worst possible outcome of leaving them alive."

The phone went quiet on his end. He was probably thinking about what his worst-case scenario was.

"I don't imagine you would call this early just to talk, right?"

"Oh, uh, yeah! So one of these guys made a regular macaque into his familiar, and my teammate wanted to make it hers."

"A teammate, you say? Care to share?"

"She's a member of the Shinra clan, exiled for awakening a sacred gear."

I remember reading that report a while ago. Hopefully, he's being careful. Even if she was exiled, she was likely taught to hate yokai.

"Well, I could send you a familiar book if you want. It has the ritual and information on the most well-known familiars."

"That'd be great! How soon can you send it over?"

"Tell me where you're staying, and I can get it there by the end of the day."

After Hajime informed me where he was staying, we discussed how he met his teammate Tsubaki before hanging up.

I then called in one of my most trusted subordinates. I couldn't risk any information about Hajime getting out.

"Oshita Kame." A shadow burst into the room before kneeling in front of me.

"Yes, Lady Yasaka?"

"I need a copy of the familiar book sent somewhere within the day."

"I can handle that, my lady. Anything else?"

"Yes. When you can, I need you to stop by Kobe for something."

-----

[Hajime POV]

Tsubaki was finally up with Kimiko, and I planned on taking the day off.

We completed our first mission together and she got a familiar out of it, so now was a great time to celebrate.

After exiting the hotel, we went into town with a spell on Kimiko, so nobody would find her presence strange.

As we walked around the city, I took in all the sights I could. Like Tsubaki, I had never left where I was born, so I was interested in nearly everything.

"So Tsubaki, what do you want to do? We have $80,000 and all day to enjoy ourselves."

"Can we go shopping? I want to get some new clothes and something for Kimiko."

"Sure."

Heading to the mall, we check out half a dozen stores, with Tsubaki and Kimiko enjoying themselves.

While Tsubaki tries on clothes, Kimiko and I wait, and she asks for our opinions. Though mine are positive and vague because I'm a guy, Kimiko cheers with every outfit she shows.

After leaving the clothing store, we went to get some food.

We stopped at a fast-food restaurant and ordered burgers. While we ate, Kimiko kept stealing fries, and Tsubaki tried but failed to stop her.

Though the outing only lasted four hours, it felt far longer because of the clothes shopping.

Tsubaki had bought three bags of clothes, which I had stored in my inventory, while Kimiko was wearing a bracelet Tsubaki had bought her.

Eventually, we went back to the hotel to relax.

We separate after leaving the elevator, but I'm immediately put on guard when I open my door.

A box lay on my bed. It was just a box, but the fact that someone had broken into my room to leave it was concerning.

Quickly moving and putting it in my inventory, I calm down when I learn what's inside.

It held the familiar book that I asked Yasaka for.

Taking out the book, I went to Tsubaki's room and knocked on the door.

She opened the door, slightly confused about why I came here so soon.

"My aunt sent me the familiar book. We can perform the ritual whenever you want."

She smiled as she pulled me into the room. Kimiko stood at a table beside a mirror, trying on her bracelet in different locations.

Explaining why I was there, Kimiko also smiled with the two already ready for the ritual.

I handed the book to Tsubaki, and she opened it on the ritual page.

Putting her hand on Kimiko's head, she flowed her mana into Kimiko as the ritual required, producing a glow from them.

When the ritual ended, an ethereal chain formed between them before disappearing.

Kimiko jumped to hug Tsubaki the second the chain was gone.

Seeing this, I took the book with me and let them have some time to themselves.

Going back into my room, I spent my time reading the book.

A few hours later, the two came to my room so we could get dinner. After dinner, we returned and went to bed.

-----

It was the next day, and currently, I was sparring with Tsubaki and Kimiko.

As happy as I was for them now that they were partners, they needed to get used to fighting together.

I had an idea to make them similar to shinobi and summon beasts from Naruto, which was much more interesting than what DxD showed.

In season 1, they showed the familiar forest and a few everyday uses of familiars, but that was it. It was arguably one of the most wasted concepts.

Even if you consider that they focused only on the most powerful sacred gears, neglecting the hundreds or thousands that may exist, familiars were functionally pointless.

The only reason familiars were added, like the cloth-dissolving slime, is to provide more opportunities for fan service. They serve no other function.

Could they be used for combat? Scouting? Just being a mascot? Although they mentioned Tiamat was a familiar and someone Ddraig fears, they never showed what she looked like.

Yup, a powerful dragon girl connected to the MC was never shown.

A wasted concept.

Kimiko and Tsubaki had potential though. They got along great despite meeting early yesterday morning.

Even their weapons worked well together. Tsubaki's naginata and Kimiko's staff, which she got from her previous master, could create a flaming tornado, which, as shown by their fight, would be deadly if you were trapped inside.

Tsubaki stabbed her naginata at me, but I dodged before using Barrier to block Kimiko's attack.

Using my magic to enhance myself, I ran at Tsubaki, pretending like I was going to punch her. Raising her naginata to block, she was surprised when I activated Barrier, hitting her like a punching bag that wanted revenge.

She skidded back a few feet before moving closer to attack. While she did this, Kimiko had moved behind me, trapping me between them.

They both attacked, swinging their weapons from different directions.

Covering my hands with lightning magic, I reinforced my body and grabbed the two weapons, sending a minor electric current through them.

The two immediately tensed up when my attack stopped. Their hair, now filled with static, stood up in every direction.

They both fell onto their backs as I let go of their weapons.

"You guys did great. You need to work more on moves that use both of your strengths. While you fought together, you didn't fight together."

"Give us a break; it's our first time fighting together."

"We'll stop here today, but I expect the two of you to keep practicing together daily."

"I understand."

"Alright, now let's get some food. I'm starving."

As we walked to a nearby restaurant, I was tempted to use the gacha but held back. I was stacking my rolls for the next week to see what rewards I could get. I needed to know the difference between regular rolls and stacked rolls.

While I knew I was guaranteed better cards when stacking, I needed to see how good they were and how much they were worth.

We weren't planning on going anywhere for the week after we made so much money, and I already had several useful characters I could assimilate.

-----

[Yamamoto POV]

*Ding Ding*

I was cleaning up the dishes when I heard the front desk bell.

Exiting my living quarters, I looked around to greet whoever was there but found nothing.

As I was about to return to my kitchen, I noticed a box on the side of the desk.

Walking over, I saw a note on top.

Opening it and reading it, I was both surprised and grateful for what I read.

Dear Yamamoto,

Thank you for the kindness you showed Shinra. She is in good hands now, so don't worry about her.

Though I know you let her stay out of kindness, you still deserve payment for the rooms.

The note and the box didn't have names or addresses on them, but I was happy despite that. I didn't know much about Shinra's situation, but from what I learned over the months, her parents were still alive. Some people don't deserve to be parents.

Turning to the box, I opened it and saw several stacks of yen filling it.

Counting it all, it was almost 100,000 yen more than what Shinra owed.

While I was happy about the gift, I was happier that Shinra had a place to stay. 

I grabbed the box and note and brought them into my living space, though I was still confused about something.

Who delivered this?

----------

Omake: Excalibur Thief 6

[Francisco POV]

After several hours, the Tunisian coast guard finally showed up.

Though it was reported that a sea serpent had attacked the ship, they found it hard to believe.

It took several hours to get everyone to Tunis to get situated—well, everyone but me. I activated my cloak when I 'went to the bathroom' and snuck out.

They can't even look for me since they are busy with the destroyed ship.

As I walked around the city, it felt so different from those in Italy, but it was also precisely what I had expected.

The buildings all had a sand-like color, making everything feel surprisingly stereotypical.

Everything was also shockingly green, with trees lining the streets. Italian cities didn't feel like this. Though they felt just as old, they also felt much more crowded.

I had never vacationed in a country so culturally different from Italy. I had been to the countries on the border, like France and Austria, but they still felt the same.

As I was walking, I felt a small burst of mana and went to check it out.

Arriving on a side street, it was empty save for two individuals.

One was just a regular human, now dead, and the other was someone with sacred gear. Though I wasn't sure which it was, I could see what he was doing with it.

It was a living sword, like Samehada, who he was feeding the corpse. I wouldn't let him live. I may have been excommunicated, but that didn't mean I was going to become a psychopath like so many others did.

Hiding with my shroud, I partially activated my sea serpent abilities to increase my physique and rushed at him, quickly killing him before he could react.

Pulling out my blender again, I put him inside and blended him. Though I was about to commit cannibalism, I was disturbed by how I didn't feel any disgust towards the act.

It might be an effect of my sacred gear. It would make sense to remove any hesitation when eating something blended with it. Otherwise, if the user is too disgusted to use it, it might never reach its full potential.

As I stared at the drink, I braced myself for what I was about to do. The liquid flowed down my throat, but it tasted like nothing.

Not blood, not garbage, not chicken, just nothing.

At least I wouldn't crave human meat. As I finished drinking, I felt myself gain more powers.

{ Gains the Steel Maw. You can use it to absorb the life force of whichever being it consumes. You can spend the life force to create soul-hitting attacks. }

At least it was worth it.

__________

Author's Note:

Oshita Kame image here.

Thanks for reading; I'll see you next time!