Celestial X Grimoire (DXD Celestial Grimoire)

I waited at the door, hearing the sound of footsteps on wood that slowly got closer to the door.

And after several short moments, the door was opened and I was met face to chest with Father Anderson.

Looking up to meet his eye line, I saw that he had a friendly smile on his face.

"Ah, good to see that you came over as quickly as ya could. Come in, please. Make yourself at home" The priest said, as he stepped to the side, and gestured for me to come in.

Walking into the house, I was once again surprised to see that it was a perfectly normal interior as well, sure there were a couple of crosses here and there.

But other than that? This was just a completely normal house. At least on the surface, I'm pretty sure that he probably had some weapons stashed away in case of a Devil attack.

"Take a seat on the couch, I'll make ya a cup of tea," Father Anderson said after a moment, as he walked into the kitchen.

"Uh alright," I said, as I walked over to a simple white couch and sat on it, idly hearing the sound of a kettle boiling as I did so.

And so, I just sat there, listening to the sound of the kettle whistling, and Father Anderson stirring the tea.

"How many sugars do you take?" He asked, causing me to look over to the kitchen oddly.

Sugars?… Why would he put sugar in tea?

Wait, is he giving me Western tea? Huh, I'd never really tried that sort of stuff before.

"Uh, I'll take… two?" I said after a moment, not really sure how much would be an appropriate amount.

"Right then, I'll be done in a minute," He told me, and I could hear some packet being ripped open and a pouring sound, before once again hearing more stirring.

Then he came walking out, holding a small tray with two steaming cups on it.

"I didn't have any of the traditional stuff, so I just used some of the stuff that I brought with me," He said, as he laid one cup in front of me.

Looking into the cup, I saw a dark brown nearly black tea in front of me.

"Didn't know if you'd want milk or not, so I just didn't give ya any?" He said, before taking a sip of his own tea with a pleased look on his face, "Ah that's the stuff"

I took a tentative sip of my own tea, finding it to be rather… strong. A lot stronger than I was used to, but it was also rather sweet, strangely enough.

That was probably the sugar that was in it, though… I eventually set it back down, and looked at Father Anderson.

"So, do you want to talk about that uh magic stuff?" I asked after a moment, causing him to give me a smile, as he set his own tea down.

"Of course, I'd be happy to help answer whatever questions you have," He told me, a helpful tone to his voice.

I had come here to ask about how magic was supposed to ask, and what the larger supernatural world was like… but sitting here and now, I was practically burning with questions to ask the man.

Eventually, I decided to ask him the first question that came to mind. The first question that I needed answers for.

"How do… how do people uh normally use magic? If the way I use it is different from them, what do they do that's so different from my own way?" I asked, honestly curious about this sort of stuff.

"Math. Ah, well it's a bit more complicated than that, they have to use all these highly complex calculations on the fly, unlike most other supernatural races that can just… do magic like that" He said, snapping his fingers for emphasis.

"So uh, human magic is worse than other magic?" I asked, the idea of that kind of leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

If human mages were just naturally weaker than other races, then how has humanity managed to stay free for so long?

"Oh no no, while it's complicated to do… you can theoretically do anything with it, even copy other racial magics with enough studying. And that sort of thing means that anyone can learn that… it's a highly complicated system, hard to learn, even harder to master. But the sheer versatility is damn useful" Father Anderson said with a small grin, before taking another sip of his tea.

I watched as he took a long draw of the tea, before picking up my own cup, gulping down the dark liquid with a small wince. This honestly wasn't my preferred sort of drink, but it'd be rude not to drink alongside him.

"And besides it's not like the Merlinian Magic is the only one people can learn, Runes from the Norse can be learned pretty easily, if you have the talent for it and a good enough teacher," He told me before a slight look of distaste appeared on his face, "And I guess you could also cheat and make a pact with one of the heathen gods to gain their blessing, becoming a warlock under them. There's a lot of routes to power, but they all come at a cost, whether that be your time, sanity, or soul… eventually you'll have to pay up"

"And… and what sort of cost do you think my magic has?" I asked after a moment, a wary look making its way onto my face.

If this magic of mine came at too high a cost, I didn't know what I'd do. It's not like I could just stop using the magic, I had no idea how this thing worked, after all.

"I haven't the faintest clue," Father Anderson said before drinking the last of his tea with one final swig, "We'd have to see just how your magic works. What does it feel like when you use it?"

"Well, whenever I get new stuff I… I feel like someone's shoving knowledge directly into my skull. Sometimes it hurts, other times it doesn't… it's like the more potential something has, the more it hurts" I said after a moment, though I made sure not to mention the Death Magic stuff that I gained earlier, that didn't seem like it'd go over well with the literal priest in front of me.

"Alright, that sounds rather strange. Not tryin' to knock ya or anythin' lad, but I've never heard of anything like this… well other than some old wizards and witches who put their souls in phylacteries hidden in their grimoires. But I don't think there'd be one around here" He said after a moment, humming to himself.

Hearing that word… grimoire, it sounded odd. Like it was the exact word I was looking for to describe this magic of mine. But why did it seem to fit so well?

"Uh, alright. I mean that's kind of similar to what happened…" I said, causing him to give me a look of concern, "I had this weird dream that I was floating in a world of books, pages scattered about everywhere… and there was this… this book floating around the spatial energy, like some sort of… Celestial Grimoire, then I woke up with that Zap Spell and everything started to come after that"

"A Celestial Grimoire, eh?… That name seems to have some sort of power. Perhaps it's an undiscovered Sacred Gear?" He said after a moment, a look of unbridled interest on his face.

"Maybe? Uh is there any way to detect Sacred Gears? Or… on a related note, is there a way to detect Devils?" I asked, causing the priest to give me a small grin.

"There's a rather simple spell for detecting Sacred Gear Energies. It was developed quite a while ago, not the most energy efficient spell, but it does the job, annoyingly the supernatural races can just… sense it without needing the extra shit," Father Anderson told me, a small annoyed look making its way to his face, "For Devils though… well unless you press a cross against them, quote scripture to their face, or go around spritzing people with holy water? You're not going to be able to figure it out, and even then they could just hide the pain they feel if they're strong enough"

"Oh, oh damn… that's kind of annoying. Maybe I could take over the PA System at school, and have it play scripture for a while? Fuck over some of those Devils a bit?" I mused to myself, causing the priest to let out a bark of laughter.

"Ha! Ah, that would be a sight to see, I'll tell ya that… it wouldn't kill 'em sadly, but it'd give them one hell of a headache" Father Anderson said with a wide grin, as he slowly stood up, "Ah now… do you need to know anythin' else?"

"Uh yeah, um… are, are Angels real? What about holy water? I heard that was a scam or something, I know you said that it can harm Devils, but how do I know what's real holy water and what's not?" I asked, causing him to nod slowly.

"Well, Angels are real. I've met a couple myself, not any of the Archangels, sadly. But I've had conversations with a couple of two and four winged ones, they're rather lovely people," He said, his grin turning into a small soft smile, "And when it comes to holy water? You'll be able to instinctually feel the sheer holy energy within, if you don't feel that? It's probably a scam"

"Okay, okay that makes sense I guess… just one last question, uh what's the low down on the local factions outside of the Devils in Kuoh? Like, I know the Abrahamic family of faiths isn't all that popular here in Japan, and if everything's real, I'd really like to know if I should be worried about Oni or any jealous Kami out to attack Kuoh for somehow being Devil Territory?" I asked before taking a moment to breathe, the sheer amount of words I said leaving me a little short of breath.

"Ah, you want to know if there are any other magic users or whatnot in Kuoh? Well, I'm sure there are a few mages here and there, maybe a couple of people with supernatural heritage but that's about it, when the Devils came they were either run out of town, joined a Peerage, or were killed… now, the Kami aren't able to look in on this town due to a deal they made with the Devils, but that doesn't mean they can't come here" Father Anderson told me, "So uh be a bit wary of that sort of stuff, alright? Don't wanna see you get killed by some jumped up heathen god because you got cocky since they can't legally look or come here"

"Oh, oh thank goodness. That's a bit of a relief, I don't know what I'd do if, on top of the Devils, I'd have to deal with shit like Ibaraki Douji or Susanoo…" I said, slumping against the couch in relaxation.

I could handle this, I could totally handle this. If it's just Devils with known weaknesses? I can make sure that myself and my family are safe.

Looking back up to him, another idea occurred in my mind, but as I went to ask it… I was suddenly interrupted by another torrent of knowledge.

"It's happening!" I groaned out, as the priest quickly stopped and looked at me, before something strange appeared on his forehead.

It was a silver diadem with a large green eye in the middle of it, small golden crosses running along the entire headpiece.

"Almighty Five Sights: Spectator show me the Truth" I heard Father Anderson mutter to himself, as he stared at me, the eye on his diadem glowing a bright green.

A green glow appeared over me, as I heard some sort of bird's cry… and then I watched as a small bird manifested in front of me.

FIREBIRD Warhammer Fantasy: Kislev Control (100 CP)

"I don't care who it's sacred to! The damn tent's on fire!" —Kassel, Empire Mercenary

A pheasant-like bird of fabulous gold and red plumage that can breath fire. It is energetic, fairly stupid, curious, and has a tendency to get into trouble (mostly by setting stuff on fire) but is also incredibly lucky so tends to avoid harm. It will follow your instructions to the best of its abilities as, although dim, it does love you and just wants to help you out.

The flaming bird looked kind of like a pheasant, with gold and red plumage, and was flying around me.

"Uh hey there little buddy," I said, as I gently stroked its fur, causing it to look at me, before breathing a gout of fire next to me, "Oh fuck!"

Looking at where the fire went, I noticed that it left a small black mark on the couch, and the bird started to flap around, flying over to a curious Father Anderson.

Well, at least the man didn't look angry. So hopefully that meant the bird didn't offend him.

"Huh, my Sacred Gear doesn't know what this thing is… I'd say a phoenix, but it's not on fire... perhaps some sort of descendant of one?" The priest said with a look of interest, as the bird made its way to his knee, and started to peck him angrily, "Ah lass, I meant nothin' by it… you're beautiful no matter what"

Then he started to stroke the bird, causing it to preen and coo over the older priest.

"Yeah, you're a pretty girl, ain't ya… now, go on back to yer maker," Father Anderson said, causing the bird to look back over to me, and go flying straight into me.

The gold and red bird impacted directly into my torso, causing me to grunt in a bit of pain, but looking down at it, I saw the soulful eyes of the creature, and just couldn't stay mad at it.

"We're gonna have to give you a name…" I muttered with a small sigh, as I tried to think of a good name for this little firebird.

Because that's what it was called, a Firebird… which were small energetic birds that can breathe fire, they're not the smartest out there, and have a tendency to get into trouble, but they're apparently also lucky enough to avoid most of the consequences.

I knew that this bird of mine was dim, but it was also loyal to me and loved me as a pet did to their owner.

So basically I got a flying, firebreathing stupid puppy… Tomoko's gonna love this little lady.

The little firebird then wrapped itself into a ball on my lap, and started to fall asleep, finding comfort against my body.

Funny, she was a bird but she acted more like a cat…

Looking at the little firebird perched on my lap, napping the day away, I almost decided to call it Ravel.

I don't know why, but that name just sounded kind of neat… but I eventually decided against it.

Mostly because I didn't really love the name, I just thought it sounded nice. So I decided on the perfect name for my little avian companion.

"I'm going to call you… Ember" I said with a small smile, as I gently pet her feathers, causing her to trill lightly in her sleep.

"Ah now that's just precious," Father Anderson cooed, looking at the sleeping bird before looking up to me, "She's an absolutely beautiful specimen… that uh, what'd you call it Celestial Grimoire? Well whatever it's called, it seems to be able to do more than I thought… giving you spells and stuff like that is one thing, but summoning fantastical creatures? Even ones as relatively weak as this one, well that's an entirely different ballgame"

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, repositioning myself a bit to make my lap more comfortable for Ember to sleep in.

"Well, there's only really one Sacred Gear that just lets the user summon monsters, and that's Annihilation Maker. And that thing's a fuckin' Longinus… uh the highest tier of Sacred Gear," He explained, after seeing my confused look, "Now I'm not saying this is a Longinus Class Sacred Gear, nowhere close. But it's definitely got the potential to maybe be a High Class one? As it is now, it's around… Mid Class, "Nothing to balk at, that's for sure. But until we can find out just what its limits are? Well, the sky's the limit…"

"Wait, really? You think I could be like what, Merlin or some shit?" I asked, causing him to laugh uproariously… which also caused Ember to jolt awake and glare at the priest.

"Hahaha, no. No. I- Merlin was a once in a lifetime- nah several lifetimes more like, sort of thing… anybody claiming to be the next Merlin? They're sure as shit nothin' but hot air," Father Anderson told me, "No, I think you'll be great, don't get me wrong. But we all have limitations… I don't know what yours are, but I just know that one day you'll find yourself at a roadblock where no matter what you do, you won't get stronger. Now, maybe that'll be at Mid Class, or High Class, hell maybe even at Ultimate… but you'll find it, and it'll be up to you to surmount"

I didn't really know why he was giving me this sort of advice, especially so early on in my… magic… career? Is that the right term for it? Ah whatever.

But I didn't really appreciate how seemingly dismissive of my abilities he was being…

Looking at the clock though, I saw that it was getting a bit late, but I also did have so much more to ask him about.

Like, was that his Sacred Gear earlier? What was it? What does it do, and how strong really was he?

And what the fuck was a Grigori?

After a few moments of thought, I eventually figured that I could ask all of that... at a later date.

So, I drained the rest of my cup of tea, not wanting to be rude and leave with a half finished drink, and got up from the couch, making sure to unsummon Ember as I did so.

The firebird let out a squawk of indignation, as she vanished into the ether, and I looked at the priest.

"Well, I think I should be heading off. Need to get back for dinner, thanks for the tea, Father Anderson" I said with a smile, causing him to give me one in return.

"Of course, of course. Come back anytime you like" He said happily, as he extended his hand to shake.

"I'll definitely come back sometime, I have so many more questions. Also uh, how long will you be in Kuoh for?" I asked, as I shook the man's hand.

"Ah, I'll be here for a couple of weeks at the least, but don't worry. I'll at least warn ya if I'm leavin'" The priest told me, before patting me on the back as I left his house.

Closing the door behind me, I couldn't help but smile. After all, I'd gotten a lot more information about… well, everything.

At least now I wouldn't just be floundering around in the dark, I had a metaphorical flashlight of information to pierce the veil of the darkness that is the supernatural world.

Fast Learner Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA ILLYA Lore (400 CP)

You're a quick learner and an even quicker improviser. Lose the majority of your magical power and not be able to blast through with sheer power and you could immediately come up with a spell that focuses your magical blast into a blade with high cutting power and low cost. Gain the ability of flight and adjust to three-dimensional combat like you were born to it.

Abracadabra Sailor Moon Benevolence (100 CP)

Sometimes all one needs is magic from the mind. Self confidence. Hope. Or maybe just to feel a little better. Every time you say the word "abracadabra" to yourself, you find that your mood, self confidence, and hope will temporarily lift. It doesn't assure you victory and neither is the effect itself actually magical, but it'll help you if you're a little down on yourself or at least alleviate your unhappiness. A little reassurance goes a long way.

As I was walking home, I felt a torrent of knowledge make its way into my mind, causing me to stop in a nearby alleyway to collect my thoughts.

Alright, so… I've gotten two new things. I don't think either would really count as spells, hell one doesn't even count as magic, while the other is really damn good for spells.

The first new ability I got, was… rather fascinating, if a bit much. Though, I certainly wasn't complaining.

Firstly, it has increased my learning speed by a lot. I was already a decently smart guy, but this… I'm pretty sure that I'd be able to beat out most geniuses with this learning speed.

Now, this didn't enhance my intelligence necessarily, but I'd be able to get a lot smarter just by reading a lot more, and being able to understand things far more easily, comprehending complex subjects in a matter of hours.

And I felt that I could improvise incredibly quickly, which would help me get out of any tough situation.

I could theoretically be able to come up with any number of spells for a situation… once I learned how to make spells, that is.

Oh, and it came with the ability to fucking fly, and even adjust to three dimensional combat, as if I was born to be able to do such a thing.

This was… this was big. Just the flight alone would've been totally worth it, but the learning boost, and the other added ability to fight in the third dimension were both great additions.

And then there was the other one, which wasn't nearly as great… but it wasn't like it was bad.

It lets me say a simple phrase, 'Abracadabra', which would make me feel just a bit better. That's it.

It's not really magic, but well, I wasn't going to say no to what's essentially free therapy.

"Abracadabra" I muttered to myself, as my smile widened slightly, and I walked with a bit more of a pep in my step.

Even if it was a placebo, it was one that worked every damn time, even though I knew that it shouldn't.

But anyway, I reached the house, and opened it to see my little sister just standing at the door waiting for me.

Well, it's time to tell her about magic, I guessed as I closed the door behind me.

_____

Alright guys, just letting you know, I've gone back and added images for the characters that were introduced in previous chapters.