Gladio Bael, Heir to Bael
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Gladio was bored shitless. He hated these gatherings.
But he was forced to come.
And making an enemy of his idiot father now was not conducive to his plans. On a side note, he'd explored his system a little bit more.
It was called the Artificer System. Whatever that would come to mean is up for debate, but it had caused.
He'd used Observe on Everyone he laid eyes on.
It hadn't improved, and all it really did was confirm what he already knew.
Everyone either wanted to kiss his ass or try to provoke him, basically.
Eventually, he rather quickly escaped to the balcony he was currently on.
''Not enjoying the Party?'' He turned and immediately cast Observe.
-||- Observe Stats: -||-
Name Kuisha Abaddon
Species: Devil (Extra Demon)
Clan: Bael
Clan Trait: Hole
Rank: High-Class Devil
Servants: 0
Power-Level: Upper Mid High-Class
Potential Power Level: Satan Class
Reputation: Bedeze's Niece
Age: 9
Titles: Princess, Heiress of Abaddon
Equipment: N/A
Interesting, this was the first time he saw someone as an Upper Mid High Class Devil Power-Level.
''Not my thing. I get the reason for these gatherings, but I've got better things I could be doing instead of meeting with bootlickers and bullies.''
''Hmm, such as?'' Kuisha asked.
''Training or Peerage Building. I look at every one of these Devils of so-called great lineages and greater futures, and I find myself bored out of my skull. None of them are ambitious beyond the standard stuff of getting a pretty wife with big breasts, and a harem of women with even bigger breasts. I want to reach the pinnacle of what the Devil Race can reach, and then shatter that ceiling to reach new heights. If I wasn't here watching them make idiots of themselves I'd be out home training.'' He spared Kuisha a glance as she hummed thoughtfully.
''Is that your only goal?'' Kuisha asked.
''No, there's a handful of others. Most purebred Devils ignore half-breed descendants or those from families too poor to remain active. I see potential there; I would pair them with strong reincarnated Devils to produce stronger lines, in turn bringing variety to the Rating Games. More Bloodlines made stronger would only serve to improve the underworld, and frankly, if the Great War is ever restarted, by a bunch of fools drunk on power, we'll need it.'' He said.
''You said Peerage building was one of the things on your agenda. How many servants do you have?'' Asks Kuisha softly.
''One, a Mutated Pawn. He's the greatest secret of the Bael Clan. His base strength can bring down mountains, but when he and I combine our power? Nothing could stand in our way.'' He said, thinking of Regulus. It's been about a month, maybe a few days shy of a month, since he'd reincarnated the Longinus Spirit.
-||- Feat Achieved: Impress Kuisha Abaddon with your resolve, 100 AP Granted -||-
''Would you have a place for me in it?'' He turned to face Kuisha and looked at her fully.
''I might, provided you understand what that means. You will be joining the Peerage of the Next Great King, which means you will be forced to leave the House of Abaddon, and you will be expected to take part in training to your limit.''
''I never told you who I was…'' Kuisha said, aware of the little skipping of introductions.
''Didn't need to, I make it a point to ensure I know the immediate family of anyone in the Top Ten Rating Game Champions and am able to recognize them on sight. Moving back to the topic at hand, you will also have greater expectations placed upon you; can you handle that?'' He asked.
''I believe I can.'' She said confidently, perhaps a little arrogantly.
''Then I have my answer.'' He reached into his pocket and summoned one of his Mutated Pieces, one of his Pawns, and tossed it to Kuisha, who caught it effortlessly.
''A Pawn Piece? Don't you think I deserve something better than a Pawn?'' He chuckled at the condescending look she was leveling at him.
''When my Peerage is complete, I will have at least six Longinus in my Peerage.'' He bent down to whisper in her ear. ''I already have one.'' He pulled back, smiling, before flashing seven-pointed fingers at her. Kuisha's eyes widened before placing the Pawn to her chest, and with that, he had his second servant.
-||- Feat Achieved: Reincarnate Kuisha Abaddon as a member of your Peerage, 50 AP Granted, 350 Total AP -||-
-||- Feat Achieved: Reincarnate Kuisha Abaddon as a Pawn with only one Piece used, 250 AP Granted, 600 Total MP -||-
Good to know.
''Welcome to the Family, Lady Abaddon. I don't think my father would object if we cut our attendance at this banquet early, given the circumstances. Shall we?'' He offered her his arm, and once she took it, he led her downstairs and through the crowd. Many turned to look at him in shock as he led the beautiful girl of the Abaddon Clan away.
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Father was a little bit annoyed he'd left early, but that quietened down when he informed him He'd recruited Bedeze Abaddon's niece as his second Pawn. He liked the idea of having another Talented Abaddon close at hand.
Idiot.
If nothing else, the introduction of Kuisha to the training regime was going to be interesting, particularly considering who he planned to recruit for his Peerage…
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King - Gladiolus Bael
Queen (Mutation Piece) - Lavinia Reni
Rook #1 - Rosseweisse
Rook #2 (Mutation Piece) - Xenovia Quarta
Bishop #1 (Mutation Piece) - Georg
Bishop #2 - Kuroka the Black Cat
Knight #1 (Mutation Piece) - Tobio Ikuse
Knight #2 - Jeanne
Pawn #1 X1 - Ravel Phenex
Pawn #2 X1 (Mutation Piece) - Valerie Tepes
Pawn #3 X1 (Mutation Piece) – Ingvild Leviathan
Pawn #4 X1 - Bova Tannin
Pawn #5 X1 - Siegfried
Pawn #6 X1 (Mutation Piece) - Kuisha Abaddon
Pawn #7 X1 - Asia Argento
Pawn #8 X1(Mutation Pieces) - Regulus Nemea
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When Rias got a Mutated Bishop, Father took it personally, but Gladio wasn't going to complain since it netted him four Mutated Pawns and one Mutated Knight, Rook, Bishop, and Queen. It was nepotism at its finest, but he wasn't going to not take advantage; that'd be daft, particularly given the advantages of having multiple mutated Pieces.
To many, Georg would be a clear choice for Queen. But it was precisely because Lavinia had Absolute Demise and not Dimension Lost that he was planning to reincarnate her as Queen. Dimension Lost was basically a Support system, and while Georg might have greater talent than Lavinia, Lavinia Reni had a much larger Magic Library and because Absolute Demise was an Independent Avatar Sacred Gear it meant that Lavinia needed to be well-versed in multiple types of Magic, and be at least capable in defending herself and considering she's a Stealth Expert and a Master Combatant by her appearances in DxD Canon, it made the most sense. Georg, by comparison had exactly two things going for him, and one of them he shared with Lavinia. Georg had immense Durability and was a Master Magician.
Gladio expected to train his servants to their limits, and he wasn't just going to use his Peerage as a Harem; he wanted a Peerage to cleansweep all enemies who got in his way. His system had informed him that in exchange for AP, he'd be able to reincarnate individuals with a single piece that otherwise wouldn't have been possible, requiring instead multiple pieces. Pawn pieces would require 10 AP per additional piece required, Knights would require 20 AP per additional piece required, Bishops 40 AP per additional piece required, and Rooks 50 AP per additional piece required. Which means that in the case of non-Pawns or Queen Piece candidates, he'd likely be spending between 60 and 80 AP reincarnating Valerie and Ingvild, 40 AP for Tobio, and 80 AP for Georg.
He also hadn't chosen two healers for mere variety. Valerie was a Dhampir and a Daywalker; her Longinus was a Holy Relic; it was a subspecies, and she came from a Royal Vampire line. Her abilities would be much stronger than Gasper's, and there was a certain level of prestige that came with reincarnating a wielder of a Holy-Type Sacred Gear.
For said Holy-Type to be one of the three Holy Relics in the original Thirteen Longinus, and the Sephiroth Graal on top of that? That was a high mark of prestige, more so since a half-vampire from one of the Royal Vampire lines was its wielder. It was a massive slap in the face of the church.
He chose Asia for her Dragontaming ability as much as Twilight Healing.
He was somewhat on the fence about Le Fay Pendragon or Meredith Ordinton. Having two Holy Relics in his Peerage would be very satisfying to throw in Xenovia's face in their first meeting. But the question of whether or not being petty and powerful was worth it weighed on him. He might not even be able to have Kuroka as his sole bishop, because in the main universe she took up two Bishop Pieces. He knew this wasn't the main universe for exactly two reasons: Grayfia wasn't married to Sirzechs or the mother of his kid and his own damn name.
His planned Peerage had no guarantee of actually being successful, well, successful in the fact that he might not have an opportunity to recruit them. As the next in line for official Great King, he could quite easily arrange a meeting with Georg or Lavinia, and frankly, he could easily recruit Tobio or Lavinia since he knew what to look for. Getting Bova meant going to Tannin, and in the cases of Asia and Xenovia, he simply needed to be in Kuoh post-Slashdog. In Ravel's case, either a match had to be arranged by Father or Lord Zekram, or he had to be the one to whoop Riser's Ass. The hardest of all would be Siegfried, Jeanne, and Kuroka for previously listed reasons.
But… Rosseweisse was a major wildcard here, primarily because he didn't mind letting Rias have her. Of all his planned Peerage members, Rosseweisse was unfortunate to lose, but she was not an unreasonable loss, and ensuring Rias got her would win him points if he needed it. If he did decide not to reincarnate Rosseweisse, he'd replace her with Bova, then swap Jeanne from Knight to Pawn, and move Xenovia down to Knight; then that free Mutation Piece Rook that Xenovia previously held would be dedicated to Ingvild. Allowing him to potentially recruit Shooting Star or Magnus Rose as a Knight, while giving him the option of either Meredith Ordinton or Le Fay Pendragon.
But if he was unable to get Kuroka, then he'd have to remove Kuroka in exchange for either Valerie, Ingvild, or…
He groaned loudly.
It was really irritating when he went off on a tangent hook, line, sinker, and half the rod.
''Lord Gladiolus? Your presence has been requested.'' He thanked the servant before massaging his temples, and taking a deep breath and heading to the dining room.
Now who would request his presence rather than instruct for him to be summoned?
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Zekram Bael, First Generation Bael -
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Zekram watched his descendant enter the room, Gladiolus inclined his head to him, before greeting his parents.
''Now that we're all here, I believe that we can begin.'' He said. ''I've decided to take a more vested interest in your development Gladiolus, to that end you and I will be spending more time together.'' The boy frowned.
Not what he was expecting.
''Is there a problem, Prince Gladiolus?''
''I mean disrespect, honored ancestor, but I suspect your idea of development would not be conducive to my goals.'' Lord Zaelaxus looked offended on his behalf.
''This is a great honor, boy!'' The current ''Lord'' Bael ground out, as Zekram hummed thoughtfully.
''And what is your goal?'' Asks Zekram curiously.
''I intend to reach the absolute limit a Devil can reach. Physically, spiritually, magically, and existentially. Then shatter that ceiling and reach heights never reached before. I want the strongest Peerage, and I want to leave none in doubt that the only reason Lord Lucifer is as strong as he is is because he is born of Bael stock!'' Zaelaxus looked mildly pleased at the finish, while Lady Misla looked concerned, and Zekram felt his interest increase.
''Your lady mother informs me you're not just training your Demonic Power.'' He was fishing for information and judging from the slight narrowing of his youngest descendants eyes, the boy knew it.
''What good is becoming an existential threat to my opponents in Demonic Power if my vessel is weak? If my body is not strong enough to tank shots from all but the most outrageous of opponents such as Great Red or Ophis, then I don't deserve to have the Clan Trait, Mutated or otherwise.'' That got a smile from both Zekram and Zaelaxus.
Pride and Ambition. The curse of the Bael Clan.
''Then I do believe that you will need to show me how you train.'' The boy briefly flashed a savage grin before quickly schooling his features.
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Gladio Bael, Prince of Bael -
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Gladio hadn't been able to put Kuisha through her paces yet, and as such, she stood beside mother who was to the left of Lord Zekram. Father, as always the obedient well-trained dog, stood to the First Bael's right.
Regulus stood before him, in full human mode. As Regulus went to change, Gladio set the wheel the system to spin the Roulette wheel, seven times…
-||- 350 AP used, 250 AP Remaining, Spinning the Wheel… -||-
Reward Granted: Charm (Semi-Active)
If you thought having a Silver Tongue was great, you just got better. Silver-Tongued is speech specifically, Charm acts as a reciprocal bonus. When you enter a room your presence is naturally attractive, people who would otherwise be more dismissive of your presence are made welcoming and helpful. When paired with Silver-Tongued, your ability to negotiate and convince people is enhanced by a fair margin.
Reward Granted: Eight Gates (Support)
You can now activate the Eight Inner Gates to massively downsize the limitations placed on the body. Be warned that having a healing elixir or Phenex Tears on hand is strongly recommended for the Fourth Gate and above.
Reward Granted: All For One (Passive)
With a single touch, you can now copy or steal Sacred Gears, Clan Traits, and other things that people have. You can turn this on and off as required. Be warned however that you can't copy Sacred Gears such as Divine Dividing, Boosted Gear, or Canis Lykaon since they have a unique consciousness inside of them.
Reward Granted: Potential Unleashed (Support)
If you thought having Eight Gates was cool, now you can both unlock people's latent potential, your own, and use the Ultimate Transformation of Gohan. In the beginning you won't be able to stack Eight Gates with Ultimate, but that will come in time.
Reward Granted: Senju (Active)
You're a devil, but as far as you're concerned you're body has all the perks of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju…
Minus Wood-Style.
Anyways, your life force, capacity for healing, and sheer endurance have increased massively. Enjoy!
Reward Granted: Massage King (Passive)
With a simple touch you can release tension, relieve pain, and induce pleasure by freeing a body from all that tension. Reading up on different techniques will increase your effectiveness. But for intents and purposes, a simple massage from your talented fingers is divine.
Reward Granted: King of the Flies (
Gladio's eyes widened in shock. But the system didn't wait.
The Clan Trait of the Beelzebub Clan, King of Flies is a Demonic Power that allows the user to create a army of flies which the user can control and direct to his will. The flies can form magic circles which can fire a powerful aura. They can also act as spies
-||- System logging off -||-
Now hold the fuck on!!! What the actual fuck! All For One? King of Flies? What in the ever living fuck?!
''Ready Master?'' Regulus asked as he finished his transformation, snapping Gladio from his internal outrage.
Gladio took a steadying breath before adopting his stance.
''Ready.'' He said and as he launched he said one thing in his mind.
'Potential Unleashed!' Immediately he was engulfed by a white aura as he and Regulus charged.
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(Author's Note:)
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Well shit…
King of the Flies.
What the actual fuck?
I've got an app that I use for the Russian Roulette Rewards System. Stuff like King of Flies has exactly 0.001% chance of being won.
That's by design, because I honestly don't want nor expect to hit it early. Problem is though, unlock like about ⅕th of the rewards on the wheel there's no prerequisite Trait required. So I'm shit outta luck.
Ah well, the Systems known to rewrite history.
Anyways, in the time since last chapter was completed its now 19th of August. Between then and now Newcastle didn't get relegated, but we got Europa League. I'll take it.
In regards to the story, I definitely want to spread things out. This chapter will be one of the few occurrences when System Roulette is set to anything higher than three. The way the system works is as each new tier or category is unlocked the AP cost rises, but so too does the chance of certain rewards. I'll keep most of it under wraps, but there's a mix of wordplay and outright crossovers in any wheel made. For example there's a phrase on every Wheel that my fellow Ace Combat fans should recognize, and that's all I'm going to say.
No actually there's two.
Anyways, next chapter we see the second part of the building of the strongest Peerage. Hopefully a lot more dialogue.
I'll see you guys then.
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Very special thanks to Mitchell Howard, David Martinez, ROGUE505 Saver, Mathew T Linderman, Luck George, Kyle Diano, Julien, Morgan Sinn, Tom A, Nicholas Berenguer, Arimar26, Robin Kristiansen, Dragon emperor87, Daniel Setchell, James Fleming, Zero 12995, Rowdy_Rich, Beastmode2003, Blood For The Blood God, Dymarkus Tillman, Lorra Thorsdottir, Parker Kessinger, Ryan, Jacob Hixson, Luci Alarra, Robert Hernandez, Luis, Berat Saziman, Jose Newcomb, and neven guy for their enduring support on P-atreon.
And also a big thank you to Cody, TJ Cruz, Kunta, Availon90, Gavin Barclay, Dragonslayer29, Jacarya Robinson, Nathan Just, Francisco J Guzman, Axlii, Reece Hutton, Ken Harris, Zeldris Wrath, Duy, lonelynib _, Austin, D3EATH707, Cutler1812, Aleksander_402, Lewis Wilson, Profound Magician, Arzard, HxC 740 VxD, Attila Kovács, Ruby Uzumaki, Mudit Chadha, Maciek, Joao Goncalves, Dwhateverprof, Jibreel Kamal, Luis, Zeca, Bent, Jason, Solus 1994, Evil King, Manuel, Benoit Valtin, Craig Butler, Joseph Brann, Cristobal Ahumada, Nathaniel Lessord, GGbeejee, Trey-Way, FisherKing711, Calvin Ellis, adrian szydlowski, James Lloyd, Ryan, Meet Parikh, Kyle Santora, Toros Silver, Vlone_Icy, reikon aijin, weird song, Cameron Krueger, Nattapat Attachat, Natalie McCowen, Spencer Davidson, Birhaledin, Kazim Zaidi, and John Burris for their past support on Patreon.
The next Chapter is currently available on my relaunched and rebuilt P-atreon, to access simply search the following link, but without the dash between the P and A, Two tiers with the same benefits but different contexts. The chapters on P-atreon will be published when the chapters following them are done and dusted and ready to publish over here on this site.
p-atreon.com/TheRagFromTheCragCorner25