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Story 2: Chapter 1: I got a WHAT! SYSTEM?
🕑 Added 2024-04-27 00:39:56 +0000 UTCDisclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 1: I got a WHAT! SYSTEM?
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I looked around the place, white ceiling, white walls, a plain desk on the other side with papers filled till the top and I could barely see the face of the man on the other side of the paper mountain.
“So, you got sent here from the wishes department. What kinda wish did you choose?” he asked not even looking from the pile of paperwork in front of him.
“A Gamer System Sir.” I answered to the man who would give me my lifeline to survive in the foriegn world that I am about to be thrown into. It didn’t hurt to be respectful, meaningfully so.
“Ah, the most common choice for reincarnators nowadays. So, what kind of system do you want? There are too many nowadays. Explain it to me. Try to be brief.” he asked.
Are the Gamer Systems really that simple?
“Umm, let’s see. A levelling based Gamer System would be nice. Being able to level up my skills with practice. Oh yeah and farming items in the dungeon. I am the type to grind hard and farm a buttload of stuff before all the fights. I guess I am a hoarder. I have always liked the trading parts of the games a lot. So a Shop, maybe to buy stuff for myself with points or currency farmed from the Game. Yeah, that’s about it. Oh, one more thing. Maybe something to raise pets and stuff.I would like to live a peaceful life, grind and farm in peace and this seems like it really might be my type of system. Oh yeah, and no System AI please. Just give me a basic Observe skill instead to check out all the functions. AIs can be pretty annoying sometimes and I don’t know how I would feel about having a voice in my head at all times.” I thought of everything.
The man still looked busy with his paperwork so I decided to give him a call. “Sir, Did you listen to what I say?”
“Umm, oh yeah kid, totes. System, farming, levelling skills, shop pets and no AI. Heard everything loud and clear there” He quickly brought a paper from the side and jotted down the details and gave me a nod. “There you go. Know what, you’ve been a pretty good sport so I’ll throw in a freebie giftpack for newbies too. Good Luck kid. Have fun.”
“Thank you, sir. I hope you can get some vacation too. This….looks really tiring.” I looked at the pile of paperwork that somehow seemed as if even more now.
“Ah, you have no idea just how right you are, kid. Sigh You’re a good kid. Take care.” he smiled and waved me off as I saw a flash of light around me and vanished to be reborn again.
The paperwork guy is a good man. Ah, I forgot to ask for his name.
- Scene Change -
That fucker screwed me up and I don’t even know his name.
I looked at the screen in front of me.
Host: Mathias Buné
Title: The Penniless Noble, Pure Blooded Devil, The Farmer
Age: 12 years old
Body: F
Mind: E
Spirit: E+
Magic: F+
Luck: E
Skills:
Buné Clan Trait:
Dragon Taming: F
Dragonification: F
Zagan Clan Trait:
Life Magic: F
Farm Management
Farm Rank: E
Farming Points: 4,000
Money: 200,000Ⱡ
Shop
Inventory
I am stuck with the Farmer System. He totally wasn't paying attention.
Even the shop only has farming items, farm animals and everything is unlockable by different farm levels.
I can sell farm produce to the Shop to get Farming Points. Farming Points can also be earned for each successful plant grown. I get points based on the grade of the plant grown which depends on various factors like the quality of the final product, the difficulty to grow the plant, the rarity of the plant, the amount and type of Fertilizer used on the plants, etc.
There is still a limit to how much I can extend the rarity of a product and still make a profit. I mean there is no point in increasing the quality of a common um let's say mustard seed from F- to S+. That would take enough capital to make me a Heavenly Dragon Or probably even a Dragon God.
And that's what brings me to the last part of the System that has saved me from going into depression at the moment. The Skill Upgrade System. My Farming Points can be used not only to unlock various things but also to level up my Skills. They can obviously be levelled up training normally and basically any method used by other people but I can pay a certain amount of points to increase the level of the skills.
The skills are levelled as NA, F, E, D, C, B, A, S which is further divided into, S-, S and S+ and such. I am provided with a comparison for this, F can be Low Class devils, E for Mid Class, D for High, C for Ultimate and above that, things take a steeper slope upwards with B- as Satan Level, B can be a Strong Longinus User like the Juggernaut Drive of the Heavenly Dragons, B+ to A- can be real Heavenly Dragon Level Or Super Devil level, A for Indra level strong, A+ to S- for the Trimurti, S for Ophis and Great Red and S+ for maybe the ExE God's if they are a thing here.
The rarity of the products are of similar ratings.
I need 2 Farming Points to level up a skill from F- to F. Every sub level after that doubles the price of increase. From 2 to 4 to 8 and so on for every subsequent upgrade.
It does sound easy, doesn't it?
Basically around 4k points and I can become a Peak High Class Devil?
The truth isn't that easy though.
To get anything of a certain Grade, I will need to upgrade my Farm to that Grade too.
Thankfully, Farm Grades don't have sub parts and just unlocking any grade, simply gives me access to the peak of that grade. Example, I just need to upgrade to an S Rank farm to unlock all upgrades and purchasables till S+ level.
The first upgrade took me an upgrade token that came in the Newbie Gift Pack.
The gift pack had 4,000 points, a Farm Upgrade Token, Seeds of some rare plants and a Pet Token which I haven't used yet. It sure was more than I expected and helped reduce my anger towards the guy a lot. My friends always told me that I was very easy to pacify, maybe there was some truth to that statement as I was about to swear an eternal feud with the guy a while ago.
As for my identity, I am Mathias Buné, Son of the late Markus and Mariana Buné nee Zagan, both High Class Devils but neither inherited their Clan Traits. The two houses were more or less extinct too with my only other relative being Ladora Buné who was a Half Devil and thus shunned by the pillars in general.
A house going extinct is a complex matter. For Example the House of Buné is a Duke Ranked House with the Rank of twenty six among the seventy two pillars while Zagan is a King Ranked House with the Rank of sixty one among the seventy two pillars.
In essence both of these houses were supposed to be quite a big deal, the keywords here being 'were supposed'.
In the Great War, the Buné were on the front lines due to their fighting builds and powers. This left them on the verge of extinction with only the side branch members surviving somehow.
The Zagan House was a different matter altogether. They were ranked King. That's only below the Great King and that was for a reason - The Clan Trait of the Zagan House, Life Magic. This allowed them to create life which had only been done by one other Devil before them, the Mother of all devils, Lilith. They couldn't create devils or any other intelligent lifeforms. They could however create plants and beasts. This made them the core of the food production of the entire Underworld.
This made them very well off but this fact also came to be their doom.
The easiest way to cripple an army was to destroy their supplies. The Zagan were thus hunted down to near extinction even through suicidal means by Heaven and the Fallen Angels side. The only ones left were, just like the Buné, members of the Branch Houses. Their Clan Traits were weak and overall the Civil War didn't do them any good either. The Zagan Trait wasn't seen after The Civil Wars. The two last pure blooded High Class Members were my parents.
My parents in this life didn't inherit the Clan Traits but did inherit all the lands and properties of the two houses. Now, one might wonder why anyone, especially these greedy devils would leave the lands to two weak traitless devils and not just declare everyone extinct. Well, politics and, much more solid reason was that there were no profits to be made.
The Zagan lands had no mineral reserves and were pure agricultural lands. It had however been reduced to an uninhabitable mess due to the wars and slaughter on them.
The Buné lands were rocky cliffs and near the pits… The breeding zones of the Demonic Beasts. They were assigned the area by Lucifer because they were fighters by nature, what's with the dragon nature and all. They were meant to be a wall against the demonic beasts of the pits. The lands however were now almost overtaken by the demonic beasts and no house, not even the Great King wanted to dip their fingers in this mess. This was also one of the reasons why houses had signed that these lands would belong to us even if we somehow lost our nobility. The reason given for this was to 'remember our meaningful and honourable contribution to the devil race'.
What bullshit.
If they were so grateful, someone could help us through our economic troubles but no one did. My parents had to hunt demonic beasts with their peerages and sell them to pay our servants and maintain our properties. This was also what caused them their deaths around one year ago leaving the previous Mathias alone in the world. The only servant who had served him also left after stealing the remaining expenses of the house.
The two hundred thousand Liliums I had left were due to the secret stash that the boy had hidden because of the advice given by his mother. The servant had however poisoned the child before running away so as to not get caught. After all, who would know? As long as no one complained against her, she would get off scot free. It would be attributed to a suicide. Too bad for her, I survived.
Thus, here I was, my body severely weakened due to the poison, with no one to rely on, trying to dig a patch of land to establish my farm and finally start my system.
I didn't use the points to increase my stats first because the early training periods are supposed to be easier to advance.
The requirements for the farm was a land of two thousand square metres.
I put the shovel and hoe down and dropped on my butt as I looked at the tilled land in front of me. After an entire day of work, it's finally complete.
Quest Completed
[The First Step]
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Prepare a piece of land to make your farm.
Objective: Prepare an area of 2,000m² for your new farm.
Reward: A bag of F Ranked fertiliser, a bag of F Ranked Seeds, a set of basic farming tools.
Accept Reward: Yes/No.
I clicked on Yes and the reward was soon deposited in my inventory.
The land was almost unsuitable for cultivation and I didn't have any idea how to go about it either.
I could only take things slow and try getting some experience of my own.
I opened the Farm Management section of the menu.
Farm Rank: E.
Farm Area: 2,000 m².
Soil Quality: Uncultivable.
Seeds Planted: None.
The soil was uncultivable even in front of my house which was supposed to be a good piece of land.
I took the fertilisers out from the inventory.
F Ranked Fertilisers: Raises the quality of 10,000 m² of land to F Rank.
The instructions were thankfully written on the pack. Simply mix with water and spray over the land. This was for 10,000 m², so one fifth. I got the necessary basic farming tools already.
I was a bit hesitant at using magic for a few reasons. First, training. Second, I wasn't quite used to magic yet and didn't want to mess up the work I had done till now. Third, there were many plants that reacted badly to magic so the use of magic had to be avoided.
So this meant that I had to get buffed. At least I will get an eight pack out of this.
- Scene Change -
I sat on a different part of the field, away from my farm.
The fertilisers needed a day to work and I was free till then to do as I pleased.
It was time to practice my magic.
I decided to start with my Zagan Trait because the Buné Trait needed a stronger physique or… a dragon to work with and I had neither of those at the moment.
The Trait was at F Ranked which was basically the level of a Low Class Devil. This was to be expected as I was a complete noob at Magic. The House had to sell all their magic books away to maintain the lands. That meant I was on my own when learning magic. The only advantage I had was my Clan' Magic Circles. Both the Houses were Ranked Duke and King and thus possessed very high level Magic Circles which helped me immensely when using Magic. I was using the Zagan Circle as it was slightly higher in quality.
Imagination was the key to Devil Magic.
Zagan House Trait was life magic. So, did I need to imagine a plant or animal?
I didn't think my Demonic Power could support higher level creatures right now.
So let's start with something small. Hmm, yes that would be good.
I imagined the creature, barely the size of an adult's palm, its body, the muscles, a rough feel of the creature and pushed… or rather willed my Demonic Power to work.
A flash of green emanated from my Magic Circle and a wriggling creature appeared from the light. My first creation… was a big… Earthworm.
I watched the creature wriggle on the land, trying to burrow into the land.
Now, one might declare an earthworm as useless but these slimy little buggers are quite good for the ground they live in. They dig the soil and somehow make the soil fertile.
Any creature created by my magic can be controlled by me either directly or by giving them a simple command. The later one is obviously more basic, like staying within a certain area, attack and such. This is however enough for the work I need.
I tried the spell a couple of times and soon had a dozen strong brigade of earthworms at my behest to dig the fields and till the lands while I worked on whatever I wanted.
I modified them to survive in these lands and gave them a basic command to work on a certain area.
I needed to grow a certain amount of stuff on my farm as well as have a sufficient amount of prepared area to qualify for the upgrade. The upgrade token however bypasses all these and directly upgrades the farm to the next level depending on the rarity of the Token.
- Scene Change -
It's been two months since I got to this world and started a farm for the System.
Farm Work is hard.
There is no other way to say it.
One has to do it themselves to know to appreciate the effort farmers put in.
I looked at the fields full of different types of plants in front of me and felt a sense of pride.
Different coloured plants covered the large expanse of the fields in front of me. The Area of the farm had increased immensely since the start, becoming forty times its initial area at 80,000m². The earthworm squads were now four hundred strong and had several modifications made into them to work more efficiently.
I also made some guard dogs around the place. I discovered that at higher levels of the skill, animals gain simple sentience. They still cannot act like hunting packs but they can be trained to do some easy tasks.
The Farm had a Majestic Water Tree in the middle. This thing alone took 1,000 points to purchase and upgrade with the level of the farm. It continuously produces water and the maximum quantity increases with the increase in the farm size and Level. I had to make a suitable water network for it but it was worth it.
The Underworld doesn't have any major water bodies and water is mostly produced using magic. This is however water made from demonic power which is not suitable for all kinds of plants and thus I had to make suitable arrangements for this but ultimately it solved the entire water problem of my farm. A fully grown Water Tree is said to be able to provide water to an entire country.
Also a Water Tree can only grow to B Rank normally.
This made me realise the ridiculousness of this system.
A simple Tree from this system can change and affect an entire country and it's not even the highest ranked product in the System. I am waiting to explore the ends of this system one day.
The other plants were the fire tomatoes, four different types of potatoes, crimson spinach, golden carrots, silver radishes, water lemons, and finally two fields of moon rice and sun wheat. All of these were E Ranked Plants. The Farm’s E Rank Upgrade gave it the function to ignore seasonal requirements for plants.
It took me a lot of points to buy the seeds and upgrades but I could probably earn more than double the amount from them when the crops grow.
Host: Mathias Buné
Title: The Penniless Noble, Pure Blooded Devil, The Farmer
Age: 12 years old.
Body: E+
Mind: E+
Spirit: E+
Magic: E+
Luck: E+.
Skills:
Buné Clan Trait:
Dragon Taming: E
Dragonification: E
Zagan Clan Trait:
Life Magic: E+
Magic:
Teleportation: E+
Farm Management
Farm Rank: E
Farming Points: 800
Money: 80,000Ⱡ
Shop
Inventory
My Stats and Skills have increased too. I didn't need a single point in the Body Stat as it rose from the constant work as well as the Life Magic. I had harvested a batch of salad leaves around a month ago and they turned out to be the same Rank as their seeds at F.
These things actually enhance the growth of the body when eaten. The person obviously had to exercise to get the effects but the speed of growth is definitely boosted.
Similarly all these plants have similar effects. For example, the fire tomatoes increases someone's fire affinity but only works till the Rank of the Fruit. An E Ranked Fire Tomato increases the fire affinity of a being slightly for every fruit eaten till the E Rank, basically the level of a Mid Class Devil. Golden Carrots increases the light affinity or resistance depending on who eats them.
Moreover, these things are absolutely fucking delicious.
My Stats and Skill levels were however bound to my Farm Level and thus couldn't advance beyond E+ Rank, which was the level of a strong Mid Class Devil. This might change today hopefully because I might be able to get enough points to upgrade the Farm to D Rank when I harvest the crops.
I have been using up my already meagre funds to support myself somehow and I really needed the cash now. I took a deep breath and got to work.
Twelve hours later, I sat with a heap of new products. There were several tonnes of Fire Tomato, Golden Carrots, Silver Radishes, Crimson Spinach, and some normal plants. The others will take a while longer to ripen for picking.
I will however only sell the F Ranked produce for now. Attracting too much attention towards myself doesn’t help me. I stored a fifth of all the produce from the E Rank products and sold the rest to the System Shop. The reward for harvesting one ton of these products of E Rank on an average is 10 points while the Selling Price to the System is ten times that at 100 points. I had sold around eighty eight tonnes of E Ranked products to the System, netting me a total of around 10,000 points in total.
Farming Points: 10,460.
Upgrade Quest: To Upgrade the Farm to D Rank,
> Make 100 tonnes of produce
> Have a Farm of 5 Hectares(50,000m²).
> Plant and Harvest 5 E Ranked produce.
Cost: 10,000 Farming Points.
I completed the quest and saw my Points drop by a whole ten thousand points to four hundred and sixty.
I pushed my last bit of points towards making my Luck, Spirit and Magic to D- Rank.
This barely qualifies me as a High Class Devil.
The reason I wanted to achieve this now was because tomorrow was the day I had to get tested for my Clan Trait and if I succeed, get my Evil Pieces.
I didn’t just go around Farming my entire day for these last two months. In the meantime, I read about anything I could find.
The previous Mathias also had this memory that he was supposed to go to Lilith, the Capital of the Underworld for taking the test. His parents however didn’t have much hope though because his Clan Trait was barely at the Level of a Low Class Devil which might have surfaced in the later years after his parent’s death and he didn’t train because he didn’t even know about it.
The city of Lilith or rather New Lilith as it was called now was a city where the current Satan Lucifer lived. Yes, Sirzechs Lucifer lived in New Lilith which was made after the old capital was destroyed in the previous war. He managed Internal Affairs which included these matters. The main office of the Internal Matters which oversaw the tests for the heirs of nearly extinct clans was carried out in the same building where his office was because this was a matter of utmost importance that could determine the future of a House. I was an already established Heir but if I didn’t have the Clan Traits, the Clans would be declared extinct with me because that would make two successive generations without anyone awakening the Clan Trait and thus the Magic would have been considered lost officially.
In the past month, I had somehow learned the Teleportation Spell which was taught to the previous owner of the body.
I also plan to use this time to sell my products, well the less attractive ones to the market and make some money if possible.
As for my ID Proof, my Clan Magic Circle was more than enough.
Apparently my Clans had some shops which were more or less closed since my parents’ passing away. They couldn’t move or sell properties like those without my express signature or I am pretty sure those fuckers would have tried to swindle off those places too. I need to check those places if I want to make a shop there in the future.
But first things first, I need to get myself some of those cool Evil Pieces.
- Sirzechs Lucifer -
Sirzechs was quite excited about today. He could bring his cute sister in to show her where he worked. She wanted to visit and he obviously agreed.
Coincidentally, both Sona and Serafall had been there too and she decided to show her sister the place as well and thus, here the Satan Lucifer stood, waiting for his cute sister to arrive.
“Onii-sama, onii-sama.” He turned around to see the cute little Ria-tan speeding towards him followed by Sona.
“Ria-tan, come give Onii-sama a hug.” he opened his arms but was met with surprising news instead of a hug.
“Some people were bullying a boy on the lower floors. Quick, help us.” Right behind her, Sona also nodded in agreement.
Bullying someone in the workplace of a Satan?
“Well, since my cute Ria-tan has asked me to, I will definitely have to take a look.” After all, the people hired in this place had to meet certain standards. How can someone bully others?
He walked down or rather was dragged by his adorable sister towards the lower floor.
On reaching said place, he found a very confusing scene.
“Then at least tell me why I am not allowed to take the test? I believe it is the law that any Clan Devil can take the test between the ages of twelve and fourteen. The only way this can be overturned is if the Clan Head themself bar the candidate from taking the exam, in which case they have to submit a written notice with their own Clan Crest and Magical Signature or if the Satans themselves for whatsoever reason bar the candidate to take the exam and even then they need to provide a suitable explanation for that. I am fine if you don’t want to let me take the exam but I need the reason with suitable proof. I am not leaving till I get that.” He saw a boy, around twelve with reddish hair and golden eyes arguing with the clerk.
The boy wore plain clothes that would probably be worn by Mid Class Devils that said his manner of speaking was clearly different from normal devils.
“As I told you already, you can’t take the test. Now get out and stop creating a scene before I get you thrown out of here.” the clerk almost snarled, making Sirzechs frown. The whole argument had created quite a scene.
This was not the behaviour he expected from any of his employees.
“What is going on here?” he stepped forward asking the clerk who looked taken aback at his arrival.
“I-it’s nothing, Sir. I was just about to clear the mess. I apologise for creating a scene here.” he stuttered but Sirzechs looked towards the boy who was actually looking at him, and surprisingly in the eye. Very few people were able to meet eyes with him when talking to him due to his strength and position and sometimes both, let alone a small child.
The child however bowed slightly like a proper Noble.
“What is your name?” he asked the boy.
“My name is Mathias Buné, Sir,” he replied.
A Buné. Dragonification and Dragon Taming. Frontline fighters in the Great War and almost extinct. Keepers of the Pit Number Eight of the Underworld. He recalled everything he could about the house from off the top of his head. The Bunés hadn’t been a part of the Noble Circle for hundreds of years due to various reasons and it was easy for even a Satan like him to forget somethings. “What exactly is the matter, Mathias? Can I call you that?” He asked the boy who nodded politely.
“I am here to take my Clan Trait Test, Sir. Also I believe I am of age and can qualify to receive my own Evil Pieces if I did that. I was however not allowed to take the exam and not even given a proper reason for that and thus I was asking for an explanation. I am sorry if I made an inconvenience for you or your work from this.”
“No no, that’s alright. May I ask what your Father’s name is?”
“My Father’s name was Lord Morton Bune, Sir.”
“Lord Morton? Was?” Sirzechs asked, surprised at the new reveal by the young boy.
“Yes, Sir. He went on a hunt near the Pits a year and two months ago and hasn't returned since. He was the last Lord of the House and since then no one else had qualified for the position so I am even more surprised how anyone would bar me from taking the examination.” The boy replied.
“I’m sorry to remind you of the bad memories. You and your mother must be devastated.” he patted the boy’s head while trying to recall the Lord. he did remember the rarely seen man although vaguely. He rarely came to any gatherings but still, the death of a House Head would have been notified to him. Did the mother keep it a secret for safety?
“I… Sir, my mother was with my father that day. They both haven’t returned since then and neither have any of their peerage members.” The boy replied, making Sirzechs freeze suddenly.
He looked at the boy incredulously and then with the corner of his eyes at the clerk who was sweating profusely. Alarm bells rang in his mind as he thought of the situation.
“Tell me, who has taken care of you since then? When did your parents go missing?” He asked the boy. A Clan Head, even someone with a nearly extinct clan, was an important member of the already dwindling Pure Blooded Devil population. Pits may be a dangerous place but an experienced man like a Clan Head wouldn’t be foolish enough to suddenly venture into the more dangerous areas. One might say that accidents still occur, although he might have an accident if alone, it was impossible for him, his wife and their entire peerages to be killed. Teleportation Spells worked and they could easily flee against dangerous enemies and save their lives. If none of them returned, then there was a fair chance that something else was going on.
The face of the clerk was giving him bad vibes too. It was his instinct as someone working in such a position that was telling him that something was up in this situation.
“I was taken care of by a maid till two months ago. She… might have…”
“Speak, you don’t need to fear anyone.” he spoke, assuring the boy.
“I was poisoned about two months ago. My body however somehow fought the toxins off. I think it might have something to do with the Buné Clan Trait but when I woke up, the maid was gone along with many expensive things from the house. It took me a while to fully recover and the first thing I did was come here to take the test to get my Evil Pieces as a means of self protection.”
Sirzechs clenched his jaws and looked at the clerk who was trying to act as if he knew about nothing. “Why were you stopping him from taking the exam?”
“T-that Sir. This child is a liar, Sir. he had already come here once for the test with his maid and didn’t qualify. Since then he keeps making a scene.” the man pointed towards the child.
The boy on his part looked shocked at the reveal. “What do you mean I already came here and took the tests? I haven’t been here before. In fact I haven’t even been to Lilith since I was eight. What nonsense are you talking about?” He retorted towards the man who glared at the boy briefly and then stopped after turning in his direction.
“You haven’t been to this place before?” Sirzechs asked, confused. “What about your stipend?”
“What stipend?” he asked, returning his confusion back.
“A High Class Devil Child in case their parents pass away and there is no direct relative to take care of them, receive a stipend from the Government till they come of age. If they have their Clan Traits active, the stipend is four times the normal. Did you not collect the stipend?” he asked.
The boy’s hung mouth gave him the answer he needed. At this point, if he still needed to figure out the situation, he wasn’t fit to be a Satan who ruled over the entire Devil population.
He looked towards other staff members, “Get him the files of the Orphans and their stipends as well as the test files for Mathias Bune. Also someone, take that devil in for questioning.”
The files were brought within minutes and it took him a few more to confirm that the stipend of 100,000 Liliums was collected every month, including this one. The guardian was signed as Cordela Namrek.
The boy confirmed her to be his maid or rather his former maid.
Another unexpected coincidence was that the last name of the Clerk was also Namrek. The maid was his wife. The test files had fake magical signatures for the candidate and that was the final nail in the coffin. These people were running a scam and were involved in many crimes that might include the poisoning of an Heir of a Pillar House.
This headache will be a pain in the neck to solve.
He looked at the boy who was sitting in a corner of the room being stared at by Ria-tan and Sona looking a bit uncomfortable by their gazes. He hadn’t flinched at him but was avoiding the gazes of other children? Or perhaps it was their questions that were making him avoid their gazes. It was hard to believe that he was staying in that territory, all alone. He knew of the place. It was a barren land and even the residents of the territory lived only near the borders due to the demonic beasts from the pits.
And in that piece of hell, this young child was living all by himself.
A staff member came in and informed him that the exam venue was prepared. It was better to take care of the situation on his own.
“Mathias, come on. It is time for your test.” he got up and directly teleported the group into the fields. “Go on. You need to exhibit the Trait of your Clan as well as you can. The rest of the paperwork has already been taken care of by me. You don’t need to worry about that. Just go in there and give it your best shot.” he patted the boy on the back.
The boy stepped forward but turned back towards him. “Sir, which Clan Trait should I exhibit?”
He looked at the boy confused.
“I mean the Dragon Tamer Trait cannot be shown without a Dragon and I can only partially dragonify, right now. But I can use my Mother’s Clan’s Trait. I think I am also the last member of her Clan.”
“Your mother?”
“She was a member of the Zagan Clan. Her name was Selena Zagan. I can use both Buné and Zagan Clan Traits and I am technically the Heir of both the houses because there are no other surviving members of the two Clans. I mean there is a cousin of mine from the Buné Clan but he is a half Devil and from a further branch than me.”
A Zagan? Sirzechs reeled in shock. He had seen the file but his mother was using the Buné name and not Zagan.
Didn’t they go extinct already?
The Zagan were… His eyes widened as he remembered the Clan Trait of the Zagan, one of the Kings of Hell and probably the most elusive of all the Kings, a Trait directly opposite of his own and one that was held at almost the same level of respect. A power so feared that one of the Archangels of Heaven, Saraqiel made a suicidal attack and took down Victus Zagan with himself. Since then both Angels and the Fallen had been extremely vicious towards the Zagan and had done anything and everything in their power to remove every trace of the Clan from all of history.
The only remaining members were too weak and finally lost the use of their traits and the Clan was declared extinct.
It had been a massive blow to the devils who had lost the biggest food producer as well as the source of the largest sum of cannon fodders in the form of monsters created by Life Magic.
It was something that they still hadn’t recovered from as even now 40% of the devil’s food was being imported from the other factions. Except for certain crops the Underworld was bad for cultivating plants.
“Can you use the Zagan Trait?” He asked the boy with some excitement. A single Zagan High Class Devil could probably reduce the import of products by a whole lot if what he knew of their abilities was true.
“I can. Although I am not an expert or anything at it. I am self taught and the books were all sold or rather stolen by the servants as I now realise. I had to experiment and learn by myself.”
Another thing to keep in mind. He will have to torture those frauds to get the information about the books.
He nodded at the boy to continue and saw him closing his eyes. A green Magic Circle lit up the floor under him and Sirzechs recognized it as the Zagan Magic Circle. The rune at the centre made it clear that this was the crest of the Lord. The Magic Circles for Pillar Family Members were made in such a way that it can be controlled by the Lord who can even remotely remove it from any member. It however had another function. The Heir’s Magic Circle was made in such a way that if the Lord passed away, it would change and he would be able to control everything. It was made during times of war to keep track of things and dissuade any disputes regarding succession.
The green light gathered at his feet and when the shine passed away, there were two rabbits, one Crimson and another Blue at his feet nuzzling on his body.
He felt his breath stuck at the sight. It was the creation of life, a complete antithesis of his own power. He stepped forwards and checked those two rabbits who looked at him with a bit of fear, perhaps recognizing his energy however with a single touch from the boy they nuzzled into his palm easily. The spells verified that they were not summoned here, not that a child of that age would be able to bypass the barriers on the place and summon anything inside. Actually there were very few people who were keyed into the wards of the place and these were the strongest wards of the entire underworld.
“Woah, how did you do that?” he heard his sister speak from behind him looking curiously at the bunny.
The boy looked smug which was adorable in its own right. “I eat my veggies everyday.”
Despite his seriousness and composure, at the situation, Sirzechs found himself snorting a laugh at the reply.
“Eh? But veggies are not tasty, you know. I don’t like veggies at all.” Rias replied with a scrunched face.
“That’s because you must be eating those common veggies. I eat the veggies I grow on my own and they are the best tasting things you will ever eat anywhere.” He puffed his chest while Sirzechs caught something else entirely in the statement.
“You grow your own food?” he asked the boy who nodded in reply.
“I do. I learned to do so in the last few months after… well, you know.” he whispered, wincing a little.
Yes, he did know. And he would make sure that those involved would know just as well what they were or rather almost did and just what it was that the entire underworld would have lost because of it. They will understand it very well.
The boy however shook his head and continued, “I made a farm of my own and plan to continue it. In fact I came here to take the test and sell some of my produce for some cash.”
Cash. Ah, yes. He didn’t get the stipend. “You don’t have to worry about money. Your stipend, including the ones stolen, will all be delivered to you.”
“That’s fine. I just wish to expand this as my family business in the future. The farm also lets me experiment with my own magic as well as train my body to withstand my Dragonification. It would be a waste to give up on it.” he argued.
“That is a well thought out plan and I am not telling you to give up on it either. But you will have to consider going to school. As a proper High Class Pillar Devil, a future head of two houses too, you need to learn the basic etiquette and rules of our society.” He explained to the child who looked quite thoughtful.
“Can I hire a tutor for those? I don’t think I can give up on my farm because the plants there need regular care. They would die if not taken care of properly.”
Again with the farm? He found the boy quite dedicated to his farm which although strange, the devils were often filled with eccentric people. He himself was one of them as were all the other Satans. That said, he had the boy just where he needed. A tutor was exactly what he was going to suggest after this.
The Underworld was a political mess with the Great King faction, the almost invisible but still lurking Old Satan faction, the supporters of Archduke Agares and finally the New Satans. Among these, The New Satans and the Great King faction were the major players due to the economic grasp of the Great King faction on the underworld. That said, if the Satans got someone like this child, a boy with the blood of King Zagan and Duke Bune, someone who might be able to grasp the food industry of the entire underworld by its neck, they might have more leeway to get many of the revolutionary laws passed. This however needed the boy to be on their side and thus the tutor that he wanted to suggest would be someone close to them.
Normally that would be his mother but the Gremory’s ties with the Bael would allow Zekram to exploit the connection and that was a no go. He will need the Zagan Trait of the boy to be kept a secret for a while. Maybe he can ask Ajuka and Serafall for help with this matter. Maybe Lady Sitri or even Ajuka’s sister?
“Yes, a tutor is not out of the question. I will need some time to arrange for one. Normally in this case, a noble Lady accepts you as an apprentice and you are taught by them. This allows them to establish a good relation with a rising Pillar and form future political connections. I will ask around and hand you a list of candidates who would agree to take you as a student.”
He saw the boy frown a little and raised an eyebrow.
“I… am not fond of politics. I just want to work in peace and train my Clan Magic.”
He found a smile on his face at the reply. It was very similar to what Ajuka had said when they were kids, or to be honest the dream he once had too, becoming a musician. The way things work, though…
“You are still young, and while you might dislike something, it doesn’t mean it is not important. A little secret,” He leaned near the boy’s ears, “I don’t like politics either.” he whispered. “But it never hurts to learn.”
“Umm.” the boy nodded his head in agreement.
“Well then, show me the test for your Buné Trait, you can just show the Dragonification part and we will be done.”
The test was completed without a hitch. The boy could only do a partial Dragonification but even that was self learned. He was a talented child.
“Okay, now let’s go to my room and you can show me the things you want to sell. I would love to see the best tasting veggies in the Underworld.” He teleported everyone back to the office room but not before an instruction towards the head examiner to bring everyone who witnessed the test to a different room and isolate them.
He would need to erase their memories to keep the matters secret.
- Scene Change -
“So, this cutie made all these things?” Serafall asked him, looking at the plates of vegetables placed in front of them.
“Hmm. I had to ask him for these to have them tested before they could be sold.” He took a bite of the salad in front of him and had to agree with the boy’s claims of this being the best vegetables in the Underworld. He would have bought these even without the special attributes of these new vegetables.
“Could the first Zagan or any for that matter make anything like… well, this?” Falbium asked, looking at the seemingly simple plate of salad.
“I don’t know. But if he did, I can see why Heaven would send an Archangel on a suicidal mission to take him down before the Great War. Unfortunately the first Zagan had perished before even our parents were born, actually being the first one to be killed and we don’t have any information about him. The ones who still know about his powers are the old devils and they need to be kept out of this. They would eat a poor child like Mathias.” he replied.
They looked at the final Satan in the room.
“Or it could be a mutation like…” Ajuka left the words unsaid and that only made matters worse.
Another one of their kind.
Super Devil is the last tag he would want on the boy’s head above everything else.
He shook his head and looked at Ajuka, “What did you find out about these? Are they safe? Do they have any side effects?”
Ajuka shook his head, “No. The products were completely safe, including the two rabbits he gave to your sisters. The food products each have different effects. The lettuce enhances the cell activity and increases the growth of physical strength of the body, essentially promoting the physique. The others had slight effects on increasing the elemental affinity of different elements. It was very little but still present nonetheless. My estimates are that if someone eats these for a decade or two, they can be attuned to those elements and have a much easier time with the magic of the element.”
“What about those light and holy element ones?” Falbium asked.
Those two would really cause the Angels and the Fallen to go for another suicide attack on the child. He could understand why he wanted to keep those things secret.
“I would need to test those on criminals but from my estimate, those should increase resistance, although they will not give any devils any affinity with the element if they don’t already have it.” Ajuka replied.
“Did he tell you how many he could prepare in a short period of time?” Falbium asked.
“I forbade him from producing them for the time being. To be honest, the boy wouldn’t have revealed even the elemental ones if I hadn’t used slight hypnotism when I brought him for a physical checkup to see if he had any existing injuries from the poison. He intended to keep them all secret until he was strong enough. It is better if we keep this under wraps for now. The internal devil factions will be enough to deal with. We don’t need to involve other factions in this.” he declared. He could see Falbium’s disappointment and understood it too. He was the one incharge of the armies and such a thing would be a boon for any devil army. But this matter needed to be kept hidden for now.
He did feel guilty getting things out of the boy by using hypnotism but he couldn’t afford not to, given the situation. He even had to erase and modify the memories of his sister while Serafall did it for her own. Any and all members who had witnessed the demonstration had their memories modified by Ajuka and changed so that they only remember the Buné Trait being exhibited. The files were all kept directly under him and couldn’t be accessed by anyone without his direct permission. As compensation, he assigned the boy double the normal stipend and any books on magic that he wanted through an access to one of his libraries managed by his bishop Mathers.
He let out a sigh. The things he did for this job. He didn’t lie when he said that he didn’t like politics but if he left the current devil society to those old devils, the entire race will face another civil war in less than a decade.
“That was a good decision.” Serafall agreed. “I cannot imagine having to explain it to the other factions if they somehow found out about it. Anyways, did you find out anything about the maid and the clerk? And what about the peerage members of his parents? The whole situation smells fishy to me. Two peerages of veteran hunters couldn’t be wiped out so easily. The cutie had the sign of the Head of the Clans on both his Magic Crests so it meant that both those Heads were dead. The peerage members however remained unaccounted for. These two incidents could be connected.”
“They are still being questioned. The clerk was the husband of the maid. They were stealing the child’s stipend for over a year along with many of the remaining relics of the two Clans and selling them in the black market. The maid was actually afraid when the boy turned twelve and wanted to get his Trait checked. Such a test would have definitely been reported to me because it involved the matters of a Pillar House or even two. She in her panicked state poisoned the boy and tried to make the scene as if a suicide. The child’s Buné Trait helped him survive the attack. Dragons are resistant to most general poisons. She however claims to know nothing about him knowing or even possessing Clan Traits or Magic for that matter. I have sent Mathers and Souji to find and recover those relics and books although it might be nigh impossible with how much time passed. The books or remaining relics might hold some emotional value for the kid and might help get his favour.” He even liquefied the properties of the clerk and maid and moved it to the Buné accounts as well as gave the boy a Phenex Tear as an apology for his staff’s actions.
The Phenex Tear would probably help save his life if he found himself in such a situation every again.
It would also work as a way of explanation for anyone who found out that a Clan Heir and now the Clan Head was not only robbed but also poisoned and nearly murdered by the someone working in his own office.
A scandal that would be.
“The peerage members?” Falbium asked.
He shook his head, “I have no idea.”
“Hmm, I will send some people to see if they can be found. I would directly declare them rogue but you want this news suppressed for now, so…”
“No, do as you think would be right.”
“So, an important question? Who will you send to guard the cutie?” Serafall asked.
“I am thinking of contacting Mephisto Pheles. He could send someone under the guise of teaching him magic along with another student. It was the most I could think of without directly disclosing my own interest.”
“Tannin? Although with the Buné Trait, it would be understandable.” Falbium nodded.
“But wouldn’t that disclose the cutie’s information to Mephisto? Although he is not fond of the old devils, wouldn’t it be a risk?”
“I don’t have anyone else. Tannin can station dragons in the area to protect him and they can push it off to making possible relations with the former Dragon King and a Pillar Devil.”
They quieted down in thought. It was Ajuka who broke the silence
“I might know of someone. She would be perfect for the job but she might not be suited as a teacher.”
“Who?”
“Tiamat.”
As prepared as he was for the reply, Sirzechs still found his mouth open slightly.
- Mathias Buné -
Man, that was crazy. Who knew that bitch was even stealing from my stipend?
At least she got what she deserved.
I was a pretty forgiving guy but that bitch tried to kill or rather did kill a child, devil or not doesn’t matter. That’s where I draw the line. She and her fucking husband would get everything they deserved.
I earned quite well for everything too.
But revealing the E Ranked products was a bit of a disappointment. I guess I should have expected better than to get away with hiding information from a fucking Satan.
The second part was me not knowing exactly how big the Zagan name actually was. The change in Sirzechs face and the entire facade slipped for a moment.
I am not that good at reading people, not that I care. Not many people can do that. But my enhanced senses did help me notice the difference a little.
I guess amping up my luck was definitely worth it.
He was actually helping me hide my powers. I know it is for some political reason but this goes on with what I want for myself.
Let them play their political games. I will spend my time farming vegetables.
I took this opportunity to check my Stats once more.
Host: Mathias Buné
Title: The Poor Noble, Pure Blooded Devil, The Farmer
Age: 12 years old.
Body: E+
Mind: E+
Spirit: D-
Magic: D-
Luck: D-
Skills:
Buné Clan Trait:
Dragon Taming: E
Dragonification: E
Zagan Clan Trait:
Life Magic: E+
Magic:
Teleportation: E+
Farm Management
Farm Rank: D
Farming Points: 76
Money: 20,80,000Ⱡ
Shop
Inventory
My Farming Points looked the lowest I had ever seen them but my money column was beyond what I was hoping to get anytime soon.
The best part however was the box I had in my hands.
A simple wooden box containing my Evil Pieces. And by the Satans, they were stunning.
I even got a Mutation Piece, a bishop, which later made me want to bang my head. I should have gone for the test later on with a much higher Luck Stat. Maybe I could have gotten two or even more Mutation Pieces if that was even possible though.
I just increased my Spirit and Magic Power because I was worried that I would need that in the test. I lucked out however with my set being directly handed to me by Ajuka Beelzebub who came to ask me about my product. I Even found out some interesting things. The products that I grow in my farm cannot be grown by anyone outside. The plants just didn’t grow. They had seeds and everything else was fine. I was happy with this because it meant that no one could stand against me as a competitor in the agriculture industry. They attributed it to my Zagan Clan Trait but I knew better. My Farm System was the best. How can such effects be produced by common people?
I checked my System and the new parts of the D Ranked Farm.
I had been in a bit of a hurry and didn’t check the features of the Farm upgrade.
Apart from the usual unlocked seeds and equipment, the special feature of the D Ranked Farm was the Pet or rather Ranch Feature. It was similar to the Farm System but I needed to buy the eggs or the young beasts and raise them myself. There was also the need to provide food for them and stronger beings needed specific types of food and environments.
I will have to either make or buy places for them to live from the System and looking at some of the animals, I am inclined to say that I will need to buy them.
Oh yeah, another buttload of grinding for me.
I need to grow the feed for these animals first before trying to raise them and thus started another cycle of the grind.
- Interlude -
In a room full of white, two beings sat watching several monitors.
If Mathias had been here, he would have identified one of them as the guy who gave him the System or simply, Paperwork Guy.
“So, that’s the new member you choose.” The other asked.
“Yes. He seemed almost… Refreshing compared to all those wannabes we meet everyday. They still don’t realize that we can read their minds and even see the future and it’s almost funny to sit in front of them, pretending to do paperwork while hearing them cuss at me in their minds while keeping a straight face when I ignore them. Self entitled little brats. This one however… This was the first time someone wished I got a vacation hahahaha. I really had the urge to laugh at the moment, not at the fact that he said it but because he truly meant it.” The Paperwork Guy laughed before picking up a glass from the table in front of them and drinking. “I read his files, a very calm and easygoing and forgiving type of guy who doesn’t like trouble.”
“That was evident when he stopped cursing you only two days after realising what you gave him. He adapted quite quickly and I even felt that he didn’t really hold any malice towards you. At best he wanted to punch your face once and then get back to work. I don’t think he even realized but he had accepted the System already. I know of several people who would have sworn eternal feud against you for such a thing.” He replied before looking at one of the screens. “Another one dead. Do these idiots really think that getting a Gamer System makes them Gods? Thinking with their dicks kills half of them while the other half are killed by their set preconceived notions and in ‘Meta Knowledge’ of the world, that everything will be exactly what they know or think of. What’s even the point of things if all the Worlds are exactly the same? A single fly can make changes to the entire world, a single sperm reaching its destination faster can cause the so called main character to not even be born, completely fucking up the entire world and yet these utter idiots take away major parts of the story while still believing that the so called ‘plots’ in their minds will remain the same.It is frustrating to even think that they believe that there will be a ‘plot’ since the moment they take their first breath in the world. The new kid you chose was at least better in this regard. He never once even bothered with his knowledge of things, only taking them with a heavy grain of salt.”
“Wow, that was a long rant. I take it the guy who died had to do something with it?” The Paperwork Guy sipped the wine.
“He was one of those Gamer System self entitled brats as you call them. Reincarnated in the Naruto world and started acting like he was hot shit, his behaviour pattern changes were noticed and monitored, showed the signs of knowing what he shouldn’t and before he could realize it, he was shipped into the T&I. The couldn’t get past his mental defences due to the Gamer’s Mind, was given a location based cursed seal and when he tried to escape using the ID Create upon waking up, his head burst open and he was eliminated. He didn’t even last a complete week in the world and these people dream about conquering the world making Kaguya a cock-sleeve, a bunch of morons. Just because you got the Gamer System doesn’t make others idiots. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely is a lie. Power just brings out the inner you. If that you is an idiot, well, you are screwed.”
“The kid I chose wasn’t the killing type to begin with. He is just one of those kinder ones although I don’t think he will let that hold anyone back, even himself. It is a rare quality that I rarely see in other people.”
“So you gave him the Low-key, Strongest among the Systems.”
“Working yourself up without actually killing and destroying everything would be a fun change of pace. I want to see a Gamer who would create rather than destroy.”
“Hmm, that does sound interesting. I have gotten bored of watching these typical Gamers too. At least this will be far more interesting than the shit I just saw.”
“I hope so too, my friend. Let’s hope that we get a good show out of this one. I would hate to see him die after all.”
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Beta Reader: LuluViBritania(FF.N, SB and QQ)/-LuluViB|99th Britannian Emperor(Discord)
Authors Note:
I know many were waiting for ‘The Game Must Go On’ but I am feeling a bit burnt out from that one. Three 8k-10k chapters have left me wanting to write something more and I am not rushing the chapters of ‘Deal with the Devil’ or compromise with its quality and thus have another snippet.
This one is different from the ones I write generally. The System will appear much less as the time goes on. I had to do the infodump for everyone to understand how things work. It will not take a major part of the story after the first chapter.
Mathias would be very strong. It’s just that the story would revolve more around the butterflies and results that happen even without him directly interfering with the events. I mean just because you are in an Anime world doesn’t mean you have to stick your nose in everything.
Consider this as a Slice of Life fic with a bit of action and romance mixed in and drama yes, obviously drama.
I apologise to those who were expecting other stories. I have completed half the chapter for that one and might update it if I can write the rest.
Enjoy the new story.
Good Day, Peace Out.
