ZING
When Hannya returned from the in-between worlds, she let out a heavy sigh.
'I didn't learn a single useful secret from that guy.'
The 60 minute gossip session with Left Direction was as she expected. All he spoke about was lovers. Lovers running away with each other, lovers betraying one another for power or pleasure, and lovers dying for one another.
It gave her the shivers. Why? Because it was from the perspective of Left. Not his opinion or speculation, his first hand eye witness account.
'Indeed, he's just a voyeur.'
Hannya was just glad that guy was now locked up in the in-between worlds, she would not feel at ease knowing that eye could be around every corner, watching and gossiping to Devils know who.
Although Left acted exactly like the guys from her world, chatty and gossipy. She realized she had been ignoring a few things. The fact that this was indeed a fantasy medieval reverse world.
Guys could chase around women and have no real consequences. But women on the other hand had to be pure and deferential to such actions. Men dominated this world and women were seemingly cattle for selling and breeding under normal circumstances.
Even in her old world it wasn't this bad, sure, they had aspects of a matriarchy, but at least men had rights and choices in their lives. The book conveniently left out such a brutal atmosphere.
She already tasted powerlessness once since she got here, so she knew if she ran into someone that had malicious intent and overwhelming power, things would turn south very soon.
Her scalp became chilly at the thought, she could already sense it deep in her heart. If she was too weak when encountering a foe, death would most likely be the last choice made for her.
She had no interest in becoming a slave getting passed around or a prisoner of some uppity being forming a harem.
'Disgusting, no one else would do, only the cold handsome for this devil.'
Hannya was an elitist through and through, who was better than the ultimate devil as her partner?
'Being in a reverse world might not be so bad, given the logic, couldn't I just easily seduce him with my body?'
She patted her flat chest, resulting in a dull thump rather than the exaggerated boing she wished for.
"....."
Well, she still had time to grow. No matter the dimension, obviously big breasts will always be the world's holy currency. But regardless, she tried to look at the bright side of things. She figured she had an advantage when it came to understanding the men of this world. A compliment here, a gift there, and all would be but a formality afterwards.
"Kihyuk kihyuk!" the creature let out a strange laugh as she rubbed her hands together, a predatory light flashing in her pink eyes.
But then a chilling thought occurred to her.
Hannya herself never wanted a harem in the first place, so that was fine, but what if the world corrupted Vainglory? What if his dreams were to have a harem of women?
With his absolute perfection, such suggestions could have passed his ears many times in this world.
'Would this fucker cuck me?'
She shook her head.
'No, it's god Vainglory, his loyalty unshakeable, and his purity divine! He would only accept me and me alone!... and if others approach…'
Her eyes became deep as her irises began to slowly spin.
As the creep was getting ahead of herself, she pulled up her system.
'And this…'
Distracted by the semi transparent screen before her, Hannya looked at her status and abilities again.
High ranking potential, high base stats, and a medley of skills. A true boss template. But…
[
Innate Abilities(Passive): Subtle Charm(S), Danger Sense(C)
Innate Abilities(Active): Method Actor(S), Devil's Whisper(B), Hasty Retreat(E - Growth), Vicious Strike(A), Devilish Pose(EX)
Learned Abilities(Passive): Enduring Will(F - Growth), Cold Reading(C)
Learned Abilities(Active): NONE
]
'Aren't these really only good for picking up my man? Where's my {Meteor fist}!? '
Hannya felt many of these skills wouldn't really help her in combat or getting stronger…
~~~
Method Actor(S): You were born to act! Your face is a mask of the emotion you choose, your words can sell water to fish, and your actions tell the story you want your viewers to hear. Replicate the actions, voice, and personalities of others based on your memory.
Note: Your acting may be good, but how are you going to deal with those horns?
Subtle Charm(S): Your body is filled to the brim with grace and charm! People view your graceful and ungraceful actions in a positive light.
Note: Others might not mind your action, but you'll still cringe in your heart.
Danger Sense(C): You can sense incoming danger! Well…generally.
Note: You would die to mid level assassins easily, but not a charging bull.
Devil's Whisper(B): The unique mana in your voice can place suggestions in one's mind, if your charm is high enough, the suggestions can even make people take actions that would be out of character for them.
Note: This ability will not activate while the target's guard is raised.
Hasty Retreat(E - Growth): Weaklings flee the best! Your unique constitution allows you to disappear in a puff of smoke and reappear some distance away.
Note: Careful, this ability is useless in open areas!
Vicious strike(A): Your devil body instinctively knows when to go for the kill! Strike a target when they least expect, where they least expect.
Note: Speed and damage is based on Dexterity.
Devilish Pose(EX): Mutated from Intimidating aura(S) + Subtle Charm(S) + 6 star Heart Devil, Your cuteness has touched the heart of the Platform of Chaos, thus, twice a day, you have the ability to shake the hearts of the most hardened soldiers and the wildest of beasts, the ultimate defense mechanism! Strike a pose to warm their hearts, as fate itself will protect you at all costs! Hostile target hesitates in making violent or malicious actions, duration depends on charm. On friendly targets, the target might even give you gifts!
Note: How is this even fair?
Enduring Will(F - Growth): You felt the pressure and killing intent of a high level entity and survived! Granted you weren't the target, but a win is a win. Your body has adapted slightly to low amounts of this pressure.
Note: He probably feels really embarrassed about that.
Cold Reading(C): By conversing with featureless entities for extended periods of time your bloodline has adapted to reading their subtle emotions better. The better you understand them, the easier they are to manipulate!
Note: This one's kinda dark, but ok.
~~~
After looking them over again. Hannya closed her status screen.
'It seems my bloodline is focused around charm spells, infiltration, and hit and run tactics.'
Hannya knew there was no 'Hannya' in the story, nor was there an extra with the heart devil blood. The closest thing that came to her branch of bloodline were the love devils, another family of the Luxuria branch of devils. So the path she would carve was uncharted territory.
The love devils were not malicious devils, but they were portrayed as antagonists in the novel.Their arts are more suited to being spies, using borrowed blades by charming them and causing all sorts of chaos.
In the book, they and two other devil families followed a half demon half devil hybrid named Shela. She promised them portions of greed's territory in Neel when she marched on Hellnia, after the gates opened once again.
Shela was portrayed more as an anti-hero in the novel, she set fire to half of Central Neel in order to free her demon brethren.
Free them from what you ask? Slavery of course. The second the gates of Hellnia were destroyed, the human territories hunted, slaughtered, and enslaved anything that looked demonic.
For what reason you ask? Just in case.
After 666 years, when the gates reopened Shela found her family had long since been slaughtered and her father a wrath devil picked apart in the ruins of her family home.
That was the day her devil blood awakened. And her cold wrath began to bubble up.
"Hm..maybe I should join her cause? She could be a good ally, she does kill two of the 14th generation hero party, that says a lot about her talent. Plus.."
Hannya was incensed just thinking about how she let that little bitch Damien go only to get killed by him in the end.
'That guy really is an eye sore.'
Hannya sat down on one of the dining tables and looked at the still statue of Gula.
When Hannya returned, Gula's presence had long since vanished from this temple.
It seems she had other business to attend to. Hannya walked up to the statue and gave her a closer look.
"Well, she really is beautiful."
Hannya wondered what the world's beauty standards were. She didn't know if her charm was higher than normal or not for a devil, but if her devil blood focused charm, she needed to understand the ins and outs of such a stat.
Of course she would also be learning a {meteor fist}, but it seems the unorthodox path is needed to achieve that.
She needed to learn arts that gave her higher combat capabilities without ignoring her charm abilities.
Luckily she knew of a place in Hellnia that offered such opportunities.
The dream knights.
A clan of charm and night demons led by a Dream Devil that defend a mountain range that houses a large dream fissure.
The Devil of the hazy mountain, Baku the 3rd Acedia, better known as Baku the dream eater.
Though not her first choice, now that she knew her blood will most likely awaken towards the path of manipulation; Baku was the best path forward.
"Well, the dream knights are still pretty cool hehe."
The only issue was Baku…
She shook her head of those thoughts, now wasn't the time to get ahead of herself.
"No, I don't have the time to think of the issues. I can only push forward! My perfect being is waiting for my timely arrival!"
While Hannya decided to 'not get ahead of herself' and sink deeper in delusion, she noticed in the corner of her eye a folded piece of paper sitting on the edge of the Gula statues lap.
"Hm?"
She walked over and picked it up.
Upon opening it up and reading the contents, Hannya couldn't help but smile.
[
Dear little sister,
Firstly I'd like to wish you a happy birthday and give my warmest welcome. I apologize for not showing myself sooner but you were so cute and lively, I did not wish to scare you off with my abrupt presence. I mean you no harm.
I am the Devil of this temple, and would like to formally invite you to a welcoming feast hosted in my grand temple located in Sweet Oasis.
This feast will take place 3 years from today, the first Landsday of new calendar year 667.
I will offer a gift for your attendance, no contracts and free of charge. I do wish you will make it.
Attached is a map of the current domains of Hellnia and marked is the location of Sweet Oasis, consider it my goodwill. Good luck little one, I hope you survive and grow well.
Sincerely, Queen of Feast, 1st Gula.
P.S. I'm aware of the awakening of your ancestral knowledge but be wary, since the disconnection from Neel and the devils spire due to a planar severance, the information and etiquette of devils these days have not been updated, honor amongst devils have lost its meaning. I would advise against making contracts with kin offering wordy deals. Especially a greed devil.
]
Hannya appreciated Gula's gesture and invitation, she wrote it in a way that did not pressure a newborn devil that only relied on their outdated knowledge of the world, she offered incentive to attend the meet up, and she gave a decent amount of time for a devil to plan accordingly, three years is the average time for a young devil evolution, leaving room to assess risk. An invitation a devil had no reason to refuse.
What's more, even though Hannya was aware of the types of devils that lived in this era, Gula did not know that, yet she still took the effort of advising her about contracts and the severance of the spires connection.
'It seems Gula is not as callous as I originally thought.'
Hannya pondered, sure she had left her in a cave temple with no protection and a tablecloth for garments, but when thinking about it, had Gula been as callous as Hannya assumed, she would not have fallen for the trap set up for her. Gula's death had been from helping a dopey but sweet human girl named Renna.
Renna, not knowing the help she thought she needed was just a fabrication by the 'Hero' Damien, asked Gula for assistance, and Gula had agreed and taken action herself. A choice out of character for someone supposedly so callous.
'Was I focused so much on Vainglory that I overlooked hidden meanings of others' actions in the story?'
Hannya considered such an angle, but she didn't regret it, it's Vainglory. She should revisit her memories of the events more thoroughly when she had more down time.
"But for now.." She took the note and map and began to walk towards the grand doors at the end of the temple hall. "...I need to get a lay of the land outside this musky cave."
She had been underground long enough, she had all the tools she needed to take action, and she needed to grow as fast as possible. Sitting here in the temple would do her no good.
As she pushed open the entrance doors with a bit of effort, she took one last glance at the statue of Gula at the center of the place.
'Perhaps gaining her as an ally isn't completely out of the question.'
With that thought in mind, a young devil finally stepped out into this new, vast world, ready to meet her challenges head on with excitement and determination.
~~~
Far above the skies of Neel, a hooded entity silently watched the little girl exit the temple, passing through the barriers of protection and into the caves filled with magical beasts and ferocious monsters.
The entity sipped his tea, curious about how the little one would handle the road ahead of her, would she overcome the challenges she would encounter in this cave rife with dangers for a young devil like her and grow, or would she succumb to despair and lose her will to change the future he hoped for on her first steps to a path to greatness.
The observer could no longer help her on her road ahead. He can now only hope for her success, the taste of his beverage depended on it! Who knows what the taste will be like if she no longer pursues her current goal, or worse, dies along the way.
The entity shivered at the thought, he could no longer go back to the taste he had before.
The older devil might have been confident of the little one's success to leave the underground cave system, but the observer could see it all clearly. Though the territory was no longer under Gula's control. The temple was untouched, pristine even. The caves had no devils or demons wandering around leisurely, and that was for a reason. And that reason had nothing to do with the protection ward surrounding Gula's temple.
"Fight hard little one, your spawn point is a little harder, but it's better than dealing with the more unsavory devils of this era so early on." The entity mused as he gazed from his glass dome in the sky.
He took another sip from his cup.
'Delicious.'