Tetsuya and Rias sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, wanting to see who would be the one to speak first. Tetsuya knew she would likely ask him about his powers and wondered how much he should reveal to her.
Telling her about the system was definitely out of the question, but evidence that he possesses cyrokinesis is basically public knowledge after the icy destruction he had left in the park. There's no point in even trying to lie about it or playing dumb.
Tetsuya decided to just go for it as he looked over and looked Rias in the eyes.
"I'm assuming you have a lot of questions." He said smoothly
"Yeah, just like I'm assuming that you also have your own."
Tetsuya shrugged, "You can go ahead and go first, I don't mind waiting to ask mine."
Rias smiled playfully, "Well, aren't you a gentleman, alright then, I'll start. "
Rias set her hands on her lap, leaning forward until their faces were close as she asked, "The one who killed that fallen angel and made all that ice that was you, wasn't it?"
"Yep it was." Tetsuya then created ice right in front of her and watched as her eyes grew in intrigue as he turned the ice into a rose and placed it in her hair, making her grow flustered from the act
{Rias Gremory +3 affection points for making her a rose}
"I can manipulate and create ice at will, as long as I have enough mana for it." Tetsuya explained as he created an ice orb in his hand and let it turn into flurries disappearing in midair, leaving her in a bit of awe at the display
"That is both a beautiful yet also a very strong ability if it's trained properly." Rias had said after regaining her composure, looking a bit thoughtful, "I'm assuming you know somewhat about the supernatural, seeing as how you could tell that was a fallen angel, how much do you know?" she asked curiously, watching for his reactions
Tetsuya decided not to lie but also withhold some of his knowledge, not wanting to look suspicious about how he knows so much, mostly because of the knowledge he possesses from his prior knowledge of the verse.
"We'll that was actually my first encounter with a fallen, but according to the old stories, people in history usually tell, since I know fallen angels exist now, then I could assume that Angels and likely also devils also exist."
Rias nodded her head almost slowly as she said, "You're correct for the most part. But it's also more complex than that."
Rias stood up, and he watched as her devil wings emerged from her back, as her hair flowed down her back. He admittedly was in a bit of awe as she looked every bit of the supernatural beauty she was; he almost gawked, but he forced the expression off his face and decided to act surprised.
"Those wings, are you a devil?" He asked, forcing surprise in his tone, and watched as she grinned, "You are correct, I am indeed a devil of the Gremory pillar in the underworld. You could say it's almost kind of like royalty."
Rias retracted her wings and sat back next to him, watching his reaction, but he just shrugged and said, "Cool."
That made Rias deadpan as she almost blankly said, "Seriously? I just revealed to you that I'm a literal devil, and your only reaction is cool?" Rias had said, trying to hide the flicker of amusement in her tone.
"Quite literally, devil princess, I almost died last night to a fallen angel, so honestly, nothing can surprise me at this point as I live on the high of not dying." He said, matching her blank tone, thinking it sounds like a feasible explanation in his mind. He knew she seemed to be fine with it when he heard her giggle.
"Yes, I suppose almost dying could negate the shock of anything else, either that or you're a real level-headed person, Tetsuya."
{Rias Gremory +2 affection for impressing her}
"You could say that, I suppose." Tetsuya tilted his head and said, " Now then, I believe that it's time I get to ask you some questions, don't you think?"
Rias pretended to playfully mull over it with a finger on her chin. "Well, I suppose I could think about it for another rose."
That made Tetsuya Roll his eyes in playful amusement. "Yeah, nice try, princess, you're only getting that one for now," as Rias then playfully pouted. But he didn't let that distract him.
"How exactly did you end up where I was, Rias?" Tetsuya said coolly, wondering if she had been watching him or if she just detected the battle.
This made Rias sigh as she ran her fingers to brush her hair. "We'll you could say that Kuoh is my territory that I share with one other person. So I'm responsible for monitoring any supernatural activity that comes through here."
Rias crossed her arms, pushing her breasts up in the process as she continued, "And so when I detected the mana signatures and a fight, I decided to rush over with my peerage to intervene. But I really didn't know that it would end up being you there, hurt." Rias finished genuinely as Tetsuya searched her expression. It seems that she really didn't know what he was capable of until last night, leaving it safe to assume she isn't trying to deceive him.
But he decided now would be a good time to act like he doesn't know what a peerage is, and so Tetsuya asked, "A peerage? What exactly is that?"
Rias practically grabbed onto the hook she offered and, with a smile, said, " Have you ever played chess before?" Tetsuya nodded, and he swore he could almost see sparkles in her eyes at this moment; it almost made her look adorable.
"So its sort of like chess in the devil world, high-class devils have peerages, which are basically like servants, you could say. In summary, though the king piece in chess would be the leader of the peerage, all the other pieces would be the king's servants. Each piece offers a different boost. Rooks gain increased strength, knights gain increased speed, and bishops gain a boost in magic while the queen combines all of the boosts into one."
Tetsuya tilted his head, playing along, and said, "You're missing the pawn." Rias smiled and said, "Well, the pawns are a bit special; you could say the pawns could temporarily promote themselves to any of the other pieces with the king's permission. Some kings treat their servants harshly, but I treat mine like family." Rias explained
Tetsuya then hummed and said, "So I'm assuming you healed me because you wanted me to join your peerage."
Rias looked offended and almost a little hurt as she huffed, "No, I saved you because you're my friend, dummy. I'm not that selfish."
That made Tetsuya think for a second, so it seemed that the main plot hadn't started yet, or Rias hadn't reached the point of desperation yet to get out of her engagement with KFC chicken.
Then Rias grinned playfully and teased, saying, "Although I don't think I would say no if you wanted to join my peerage." Tetsuya deadpanned, although the thought had crossed his mind, he was still a bit reluctant when his old pal, the system popped up.
{Option 1: Ask Rias to be your mommy instead.}
Reward: You get looked at weirdly.
Consequence: You gain a mommy fetish.
{Option 2: Accept Rias's peerage invitation and embrace the dark side.}
reward: random trait and more opportunities to get closer to devil girls.
Consequence: Technically slavery, although you could eventually break free.
{Option 3: Ask to be specially healed every night from now on.}
Reward: Rias sends Kiba to sleep naked in your bed every day
Consequence: You're officially gay and at higher risk of getting anally railed by Kiba
Fucking system basically just made the decision for him, no way in hell he's picking option 1 or 3, they don't even give him anything beneficial. Oh well, at least this way he could gain affection with the girls more easily. Plus, it should give him a massive boost; that holy weakness is going to be a pain, though, but perhaps the system will give him something to negate it one day, is what Tetsuya thought to himself.
"Option 2" Tetsuya confirmed in his mind as he held Rias's hands, catching her off guard and putting on the most earnest expression he could. "Yeah, I want to join your peerage."
Random Trait Awarded
[Helltaker]
"You wake up, dreaming of a harem of demon girls." Infernally aligned/Demonic beings find themselves more attracted to you, and it is easier to earn their affection.
"Fucking ironic." Tetsuya thought to himself with a sigh as he watched Rias's expression light up
{Rias Gremory +3 Affection for agreeing to join her peerage}
"Are you sure? Because once I start the ritual, there's no going back." She said, staring into his eyes as he nodded and said, "Yeah, I decided this is the path I want to follow."
Rias nodded, then put a serious expression on as her devil wings emerged and she retrieved her evil pieces. "Which piece would you like to be then?"
"I'll just go with pawn, sounds like the most versatile for my skillset." Tetsuya said, resigned as Rias tilted her head curiously, "Not Bishop? Wouldn't that have been more effective for your ice?"
"Nah, I don't really want to restrict my potential to a bishop." He watched Rias nod slowly, knowing she was definitely more curious about his potential now. "Very well then, pawn it is."
Rias pulled the pawn piece out of her set and then let it float toward his chest. He felt it begin to submerge and then stop as the pressure shot up in the room. Rias was shocked to see that all her remaining pawn pieces floated out of the box and all decided to submerge into Tetsuya. Tetsuya felt his body grow hot as the change happened almost in an instant. "Farewell, humanity.. but I have to admit I like the boost."
{Physical and Mental enhancement increased by 300%!}
Tetsuya felt way stronger now; his body felt like it was overflowing with strength and mana compared to how it used to be. The difference between a human and a devil really is big, as he felt his devil wings emerge from his back.
"You took all 8 of my pawns, your talent must be amazing," Rias said, astonished, yet she also felt her body burn up from looking at him. "Why does just looking at him now that he's a devil make me feel hot?" Rias thought to herself as Tetsuya glanced over at her, seeing the hunger in her eyes that she forcibly suppressed.
"Oh, I am so cooked. If that talent I just got is that strong. She almost looked like she wanted to pounce on me right there. Hell, she might've actually done it if she were at the crush affection limit."
{Rias Gremory +4 for reasons she can't currently explain!}
"Does HellTaker double the affection I get from devils?" Tetsuya mulled over in his head as he checked his current affection level with the girls.
{Current Affection Levels}
Rias Gremory: 38
Akeno: 22
"Rias will be at the close friend stage soon, neat." he nodded to himself as he felt Rias come up to him with a grin.
"Welcome to my peerage now Tetsuya. You can call me Pres from now on!"
"I'm still calling you Rias."
"Pres."
"Rias."
"Pres!"
"Rias."
Electricity almost burned in their eyes as they sized each other off with each other until Rias pouted and crossed her arms, almost like a brat. "Fine, I'll let it pass for now. Only since you're my cute pawn."
"You can pout all you want, I'll just focus on the part where you called me cute." Tetsuya retorted teasingly
Rias huffed, then turned and walked toward the door. "Let's go, we'll be late for school."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Tetsuya sighed and followed after her. Looks like his life just got a lot more devilish.