Dangerous Exchange - DXD

Chapter 10

"- Hm. They can be used to store spells that the user has created or mastered. These spells can then be called upon at any time. Magic circles have the function of determining and storing the most effective use of magic. This way, you don't have to constantly try to create the best spell to write into the circle. It itself continues to improve as you train."

This is absolutely brilliant, although it raises another question.

"Then couldn't someone older just save the spell in someone else's magic circle so the kids could use it?"

"- Hahahahaha, if only it were that simple. Magic involves thoughts, imagination, desires, willpower, and even the instinct of the one who creates it. You can reproduce a spell, but you can't reproduce all of these factors.

"For example, take a 100ml glass that contains 50ml of water. For some, it will be half full, and for others, it will be half empty. Each person has their own thought process, so simply copying the spell into the magic circle does not work."

This is similar to platform-specific programming languages ​​in computers.

The only exception is that no one can create bytecode because there are too many variables to manipulate and the language is too complex.

"Is it possible to improve control over demonic power so as not to waste energy?" I asked again, and the teacher thought for a moment.

"- It can be done. But it's very difficult. Demonic power is very chaotic in nature. It's hundreds of times easier to just create a magic circle that will use 20% less energy than trying to control our demonic energy to do the same thing."

"But if we can do both at the same time, we can end up saving 34% of demonic power, not just 20%."

"- That's right. That ability comes with experience. In any case, you are the young lord Lucifer and part Asmodeus. The amount of demonic power will never be a problem for you anyway. By the time you grow up, you will be at least Satan class. There will never be a need to conserve energy, considering that all the Satan Houses have magic circles that conserve over 80% of energy."

Damn lazy people.

The magic lesson continued for several more hours.

Whatever you say, these people are not slacking off with my training; apparently they want me to learn something.

I completed my basic education in four years. So it is more or less established that I am a genius.

"That's all for today, young master." The teacher finished the lesson and left us alone in the room.

A servant was waiting for me right outside the door, but I always decide when to leave. And if I'm needed, you can always call me.

I looked at the girl sitting next to me. She tensed up a bit, but gradually relaxed, or rather pretended to.

It seems like I'm some kind of monster, well yes, .... that's what I am.... sort of...., but still.

On the outside, I don't look that bad.

I have silver-white hair and blue eyes, and my snotty emo look was perfected in the bathroom when I looked at my reflection.

If anything, I looked like a cute Killua.

Hell, I even have a family of psychopaths like Killua.

In any case, I think she's too afraid that I'll eat her, which is something I would certainly think about if she were even a decade older.

"- Hmm, what do you do in your free time?" I asked, trying to start a conversation.

Pretending to be a child is such a pain in the ass.

"- Uh... me?"

"- Hn."

Come to think of it, acting like an emo Uchiha might not be the best way to get along with someone as emotionally damaged and insecure as Gretel.

"- Don't worry, I don't eat people, and I just thought, if you're free and want to, we could play together sometimes?"

"With me?" she stuttered, looking completely stunned.

"- Hm."

"- B-but that would be s-small. I am from the House of Lucifuge. W-w-we are servants of the House of L-Lucifer."

I'm definitely Naruto talking to Hinata right now.

"- In that case, play with me if you have free time. That's an order."

"- O-o-order? Um.... okay."

Oh, if I weren't sure that we were being watched right now, I would hug this little girl and let her cry.

"- Great."

I want to test how strong my influence is. Isn't this attitude from the people around me a deception to give me a sense of false security? I've seen the emotions of the idiot trio, and even if Rizevim has plans, the trio will definitely insist on their own.

Pride is one of the main components of their characters.

I hope I can wean her away from Euclid and, if possible, bind her to me.

Based on five doses of the enhancing drug, she should have high potential.

I've only marked one person with the Binder Essence, and I have five slots empty for now.

If she is truly trustworthy, then I can use the second slot as well.

After that, the room became quiet.

She didn't say anything, but sometimes she would steal glances at me.

Unable to bear the silence, I spoke again.

"- So you want to play?"

"- A?"

"- I mean, we're not doing anything right now, are we?"

"- Uh-uh, okay."

"- We can play a game called "Words". Do you know one?"

At this she shook her head sadly.

"- I'll teach you."

And I actually taught her.

The girl, despite her lack of confidence, turned out to be very smart.

She kept up with me, but didn't seem to want to try to win.

It's going to take some work to change her. I need her to gain confidence in herself.

*************************************************

- Scene change -

An hour later, the servant apparently got tired of waiting and decided to knock.

I've had more than enough time to build bridges with this lovely girl by now, and now she needs time to get used to me.

I returned to Razevan's residence.

He himself was not in the house, but there was a woman of about twenty with black hair and blue eyes, with a baby on her lap, whom she was trying to feed.

"Young master, you've returned." She smiled at me, and to be honest, that made me happy.

I don't know what good deed Razevan did to get such a girl, though. Aria Smith was half English, half German, and about twenty years old.

People might not recognize her by name, but she had another personality.

A personality given to her by the child sitting on her lap.

I walked up and lightly pinched the cheeks of the adorable little girl, who turned to me and pouted.

Vienna Lucifer... or the one who was supposed to be Vali Lucifer according to canon.

I know it was her and not someone else because I checked to see if she had an extremely powerful Sacred Gear.

This was also one of the main reasons why the half-breed was allowed to live here with his mother.

***

Damien

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Chapter 11

Although, personally, I would have preferred that Aria took the girl away somewhere far away and hid her. That bastard Rizevim had already started beating up Razevan, and although Aria would never show it, there were marks on her body as well.

Traces of blows.

Of course, Razevan was holding back. The man's fault was that he was a proud coward at the moment, not a heartless idiot. However, that could soon change.

I don't have enough demonic power to simply bind him with the Essence of the Binder, otherwise I would have done it before he turned into something irreparable.

However, the child was connected to me, so even if she accidentally died, I would be able to resurrect her.

The fact that she was born a girl will only make her problems worse in the future.

My presence may have caused stronger butterfly effects than I could have expected.

"- Mmm, I'm back."

At my smile, she stroked my head, which she only did when there was no one in the house except her, Vienna and me.

For people like me, showing affection to a common man is considered weakness.

Bastards.

"How was the lesson? Were you interested in learning about magic?" Aria asked.

"- Mmm. The lesson was good. The teacher turned out to be adequate."

Her face twitched as she tried to suppress a smile.

"- Obviously. For a brilliant young gentleman, teachers can only be adequate, anything less is unacceptable?"

Oh, how she teases, while maintaining a respectful tone.

"- And after school I also played "words" with one girl," I added, concentrating on patting Vienna's soft cheeks.

"Oh. With a girl, you say? What's her name? Was she pretty? Does the young master have someone he likes?" Her face took on the look of a cat that had caught a canary.

I looked at her calmly. I don't know if kids my age can remain calm in such a situation, but at that moment I didn't care.

At this she burst into giggles.

Women and their habit of gossiping.

"Her name is Gretel Lucifuge. She is Euclid's sister and is studying magic with me. I invited her to play when she has free time."

Apparently she knew about Gretel, because a hint of sadness appeared on her face, which the woman quickly hid and looked at me in a motherly way. "- The young master is very kind. I will be happy to make you some cookies when she comes to play." - Aria half-huggled me, thereby pressing me against Vienna, who was trying to free her cheeks from my grasping hands.

"Chocolate chip cookies," I corrected her.

"- Hm. Okay, chocolate chip cookies."

This woman is the closest person to the concept of a mother that I have in this world.

I would have tied her up too, but I didn't want to force her. Call it a drop of humanity left over from my past life.

The logical part of my mind is screaming that I'm a fool for not using all the resources available to me, but....

Maybe I'm afraid.

Become like those bastards: cruel, relentless, merciless.

What's the point of becoming all-powerful if I'll end up alone with a bunch of sex toys?

I know that someone like Rizevim can and will use her against me if he finds out about our connection, so I don't act like this with her if there's anyone other than us in the room or outside of it.

And this room is the only place where I don't feel like people are looking at me all the time.

The reason I don't Bind her, even though I know I can control her trust in me, ensure her free will, is because, despite the domestic violence that would have landed Razevan in prison in any civil society (I chuckled at the thought), she truly loved him.

It's strange, isn't it?

Is this what is called blind love?

Razevan met her during his teenage rebellious period when he ran away to the human world.

She had no one and was going to be sold as a prostitute.

The thing is that the pimps or whoever was there started a fight with Razevan, who at that moment killed everyone, leaving only Aria alive.

I can only assume that she then clung to him like a drowning woman to a straw, and Razevan probably used her to "let off steam."

Whether it was a twisted case of Stockholm syndrome or something else, I don't know.

After this, Razevan kept her with him and she became his servant, relieving his stress.

People as servants of devils is not uncommon at all.

Some part of me felt disgust at this twist of fate, but some part of me, to my great displeasure, felt gratitude, because Aria was perhaps the only reason I was sane now.

Feeling that someone was approaching the house, I recoiled from her.

"- I'll be in my room doing my homework. Please bring me something to eat."

She just nodded with a smile.

A smile that contained pain, helplessness and recognition.

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- Scene change -

I lay on my bed and thought about what I learned today.

My mind analyzed everything with the help of the Archmage's Essence.

The theory that the teacher taught us was undoubtedly the most basic of fundamentals.

I put my hand in front of me and imagined fire.

No general shape, no size, nothing.

Just that I need fire in front of my hand.

And I felt my demonic power moving, without doing anything to change its flow.

As a result, a normal flame appeared in front of my hand at a considerable cost of effort.

The second attempt was to think about its shape and size, the color of the flame and the temperature.

The result was a fireball with much greater stability and power, and at less than half the cost.

The effect of imagination came into play here.

The third attempt was to imagine this phenomenon. The fire flares up, more oxygen is supplied to it and it is kept within the limits of its shape and size.

The color of the fire changed and the heat increased significantly.

The cost also decreased. This allowed me to conclude that if you accurately imagine the process, and not just think about increasing the heat, you can avoid irrational use of demonic power.

I understand why Ajuka uses so little demonic power to cast the spell.

I can hardly imagine any of the idiots around me studying the fundamental sciences before practicing magic. Only people with a scientific mind do that. And even fewer use that knowledge to create spells.

The reason is not that they are stupid, but that most of them are lazy.

To consciously think and concentrate on such a trifle as the process of creating fire, when one can simply embody it with brute force and not even cause noticeable damage to one's reserve of strength, is stupidity for them.

However, I intend to make it a habit. An instinct as natural as breathing.

The essence of the archmage will help me with this.

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Chapter 12

I tried the same spell again, but this time controlling my demonic power and directing it.

As a result, the fireball was created faster and its cost was reduced again.

The last time I tried to create a spell like the last attempt, but using a magic circle. The result was almost cheating.

The spell cost barely 5% of the first attempt, but its power was almost twelve times greater.

That is, the efficiency has changed by 240 times.

And this is in a simple fireball spell.

There are still many things that can be improved. The control of demonic power can be increased, the theory behind the power of fire can be changed and improved even more.

I wonder if I can use atomic fission and fusion as a theory for this spell? Not that I'm going to try. A nuclear blast to the face isn't something I want to experience right now.

Maybe when I reach the Office level.

I closed my eyes and thought about my progress over the past four years.

How long should I stay here?

The thing is, I can run away if I really want to, but I'll be found easily.

Besides, no matter how annoying this place is, they are willing to teach me here.

Although there is obviously a catch. But jumping from the frying pan into the fire without any reason is somehow stupid.

I plan to wait for a while.

At least until Vienna grows up.

Over the past few years, I have had to hold back my successes to maintain the illusion that I am in complete control.

Geniuses evoke a feeling of admiration, monstrous geniuses, however, only fear and envy.

I'm already being watched more than enough, I don't need any more.

However, I have already taken measures to successfully hide as soon as I escape from here.

The three things I'm focusing on right now are mental acceleration, parallel processing, and the mother of all training cheats - the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

The Archmage's Core gives me any energy. There's no reason to waste it.

True, I haven't used it properly yet, but just sifting through the theory is a real hassle.

Acceleration of thinking and parallel processing, on the other hand, were easier.

The House of Astaroth used this magic as the basis for their spells.

Ajuka Beelzebub is the most striking example of these capabilities.

If I had to guess, I'd say the monster had at least about 11 streams of consciousness.

And this is according to the most conservative estimates made more than 400 years ago.

A rough estimate, given the exploits he accomplished in the civil war.

Damn monster.

And who said he hasn't gotten even better over time.

Every spell Tsufaame Tereaku Leviathan cast, enough to flood an entire city, and even her "Sea Serpent of the End" attacks, he redirected back with his magic based on the calculations of the "Kankara Formula".

The amount of calculations that are required for this, my little brain cannot even imagine.

But that doesn't mean I'm completely useless right now. I have a decent 4 threads, thanks to my Archmage Essence being a cheat.

However, I was trying to work on something completely different.

Is it possible to force a part of my mind to act in accordance with another thought process? It's like looking left and right at the same time, and I don't like the idea of ​​having a shadow clone in my head.

I would really like to have a part of my mind devoted to the control of Haoshoku Haki.

Well, I'll try to do that when I find some kind of clue to start from.

Next – acceleration of thinking.

A 40x increase after four years of work is pretty good considering I was mostly just poking around in my research.

Now that I have started studying magic, I hope that I can get enough additional information.

The benefit of these skills to my Occlumency is huge, and I now have decent shields in my mind. Although how decent they are remains to be seen, because I have not yet been subjected to mental attacks.

And I certainly don't intend to ask anyone to do so. This is one of the main reasons why I want to develop the Shadow Clone Jutsu as soon as possible.

The shadow clone has an independent thought process and can attack my mental defense while keeping my secrets.

However, the cameras and surveillance spells in my room are a serious problem. I dread to think what would happen if one of those bastards figured out how to use a skill like Shadow Clone.

Although the lack of chakra will not allow them to easily understand the technique, it is better not to discount this possibility.

This eventually led me to my final choice.

I must follow in Aizen-sama's footsteps.

The magic of illusions.

I have to become such a good illusionist that even if I moonwalk on the old Satans' dinner table, they wouldn't be able to sense it.

But that's easier said than done.

Demonic power is used to create holograms that resemble illusions, but I am interested in the ability to control the victim's feelings, which means working in their mind.

Genjutsu is absolutely out of the question, at least according to the Naruto method.

In the ninja world, genjutsu works by having the user send chakra into the target's mind and use it to manipulate them.

This chakra can be easily dispelled, but it is obvious that the higher the control over a person's mind, the more difficult it is for the victim to break out of the genjutsu.

However, for the devils it is useless.

The demonic power is chaotic enough to disperse chakra if injected into a victim.

Which completely rules out the use of a chakra-based method unless one is working at the level of Kotoamatsukami or Infinite Tsukiyomi.

This is, however, extremely difficult, not impossible, but very difficult to do without cheat eyes.

I also need to find a way to study illusion magic without anyone knowing about it.

Otherwise they will know what to expect.

The reason Aizen-sama was so successful was because no one knew what hit them until it was too late.

I have a basic plan of what to do, but for now the best I can do is wait and learn magic.

With that in mind, I focused on using the fireball spell without the magic circle, trying to imitate the flow and movement of demonic power as it did with the magic circle.

It's time to increase control.

I don't know when I'll have to get rid of Lucifer's magic circle, and it's better if I start preparing for it in advance.

I'll add creating my own magic circle to the list of things I need to learn.

And with these thoughts I began the repetitive, and therefore extremely boring, cycles of creating fireballs.