Shirou's modesty, maturity and tendency to help others with no strings attached had certainly earned him quite a following that was comparable to Kiba's, and from what she heard, it seemed the girls were wishing for the two to meet sometime soon.
Oh the possible mayhem that could occur.
...
"But you know, I do wonder about something." Akeno frowned as she voiced out the thought in her head. "The magic he used on the equipment were not the type for casting barriers or curses of any sort, and since we did not know for a long time until Koneko pointed it out, I think he does not come from any of the traditional schools we know."
"Well there is that." Rias nodded as she listened. "But I also noticed that he has a tendency to react differently to any of us." Rias let out a small scowl at the memories of Shirou running away every time she came close. "Even when he heard my name from Sona, it seemed he did not react to it like the others do."
"So you think he may not have grown up knowing everything, is that what you are suggesting?" Akeno raised an eyebrow at her suggestion. Certainly it would make sense, if not often, for someone to not know her name well enough, but that would be ludicrous. Everyone apart from the normal folk would know what the Gremory name was the moment they hear it. It was a name that was linked to one of the power groups in the Underworld after all.
"It wouldn't be the first time." Rias commented as she mentally list all the information she knew about the boy. "And if he were aware of us, he would not interact with Sona's Peerage for so long." Akeno nodded as she mused about his interactions with the members.
"So what do you think?" Rias turned around with a smile that Akeno was all too familiar with. "If he is a wizard in the academy, then that would be just perfect. I still have one more Bishop Piece that could complement his magic, and we can have one more magic user in our midst."
"Provided Sona hasn't gotten to him yet." Akeno reminded Rias about her rival. "I do know that she has been trying to get him into her Peerage for some time now, and with the knowledge that he is a possible wizard in the school, she would double her efforts for sure."
"Hmm~ that's true." Rias pouted at the possible loss of a potential ally. "You know, since it is not yet night time, let's call Sona for an outing. I think she needs a break as well." Rias looked to the sky as Akeno took out a phone and dialled a number to call Sona. She needed something to try and get Shirou on her side. Having a magician on her Peerage would be a great boost in attack and defence, and it would certainly be interesting to know the different magical cultures out in the world.
Maybe she should try that new udon store to tempt Sona into giving up Emiya?
Further thoughts were interrupted by a sudden pulse of power that sent shivers down her spine. Both of them turned in the general direction where they felt its intensity.
"Rias, this feeling…" Akeno commented as she focused her senses in the direction.
"I know, the feeling is similar to that of Shinto barriers." Rias frowned deeply. "But I don't recognize the flavour of its power, and its strength is completely different from the ones I know."
"Crack!"
"Boom!"
The park a few kilometres ahead of them started flashing beams of light and parts of the area got blown up spectacularly. It seemed that the barrier was mainly placed to contain the explosions, as the chunks of earth that flew the air just stopped after hitting the barrier and harmlessly drop back down.
"Looks like we have quite a battle going on." Rias commented as she noted the scale of destruction that was tearing the park apart. On the ground, people would probably feel the explosions but would probably write it off as vibrations from the construction site nearby, but for creatures like her, and at their vantage point, it was quite a sight to see trees and chunks of earth flying to the air in all directions.
"Rias, Sona and Tsubaki are coming to us." Akeno told her as she kept her phone. "It seems they were close by when they felt the energy. They would be coming here to strategize what to do."
Rias was about to say something when she felt a pulse in her pocket. Perplexed, she took out her seal and stared at the glow it was emitting. A summons at this time?! It was either one extremely big coincidence or she had some bad luck. Who needed her at this time?! She paused as she looked at the explosions, then with a slight movement, she pointed her seal in that direction and noted the intensity which increased greatly.
"Well, well. This is a very interesting development." Rias let out a smile as she looked on.
...
Yup, it was official. My luck stats were definitely E-Rank.
I was having a slightly harder time with this silly birdbrain than needed because of her constant dodging in the air. Normally, I would just rain the entire area with swords to ensure I can hinder their movements, if not impale them to the ground, but considering we were in an open area extremely close to a residential area, I had to keep the collateral damage to a bare minimum. So my best compromise was using a combination of Bakuya and Kanshou to defend myself from her constant throwing of light spears, and a few blades to shoot at her in the air and distract her.
Still, it was just another hunting session for me.
"Damn you bloody wizard!" The woman hissed as she barely dodged another one of my blades aimed at her head. "You dare to raise your pathetic blades at me?!"
"Well, you look like you could use a haircut." I quipped as I moved away from her spears. It had been slow work, but I was able to get her away from Issei, and that meant I could use some of my other talents. I materialized a bow in my left hand and projected a nameless blade in my right, all the while keeping the image of what I want to accomplish.
"What are you going to do with that, shoot me with a sword?" The girl jeered at me, but her posture and her eyes betrayed her emotions, and she was definitely wondering what I was about to do. Well, then I best to make sure I don't disappoint.
"My steel is twisted, my soul is fragile, and my core is distorted." I muttered as I notched the blade to the bowstring and pulled it back, all the while altering the blade's form to be more streamlined and focused to the point that the Prana stored inside was literally roaring to be released from its shell. The bird lady seemed to have felt the Prana, as her eyes went wide and she started to fly upwards to get away from my shot.
Too bad for her.
I released the projectile, and sent it flying straight towards her. As she tried to move away, the projectile glowed red and split to smaller versions that actively chased her like heat-seeking missiles. She panicked and started flying in all directions as the shots picked up speed and weaved around her. It was only when she nearly crashed into a tree that she realized that she was completely surrounded by the interweaving projectiles, just as I planned.
In a way, it was boring.
"Boom." I snapped my fingers as I said that in a flat tone. At least I was sated by the sight of the projectiles exploding loudly and the body crashing to the ground hard. I slowly made my way to the barely breathing woman, noting that she was apparently handling the damage a lot better than I had anticipated. Clearly whatever species she belonged to, they possessed great tenacity. Even the wounds though severe enough to kill, were looking a lot smaller than they should.
Just another question to my growing list for this world. But first things first.
"Damn you!" The woman panted as she struggled to get up only to slump on the ground. "You dare to make me grovel on the ground like a dog, you damn mongrel!"
"Seriously, that's the best insult you got? I have known others who could think of better versions." I snorted as I stood in front of her.
"Oh, and for your info, you should say 'mongrel' with a drawl at the end. One guy I knew can do it so well it is practically patented for him." The expression on her face made me want to smirk exactly like the fellow I spoke of.