"[It's him. ]"
Ddraig's voice echoed in Lynn's mind.
It was a boy with short brown hair. His presence was very weak, only slightly stronger than an ordinary person.
"Genshirou, are you free after school?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty free today."
"Then do you want to go eat noodles? A ramen shop opened to the west; I heard the taste is pretty good!"
"Sure, let's go together then."
A brief conversation drifted over as the boys quickly made plans for after-school activities.
Seeing this, Ddraig, who was observing from the side, became a bit confused:
"[How is he just an ordinary person? ]"
Whether it was the voice or the way he walked, the boy emitting the aroma was no different from an ordinary person.
Releasing his perception to take a closer look, Ddraig finally discovered something was wrong.
"[Lynn, it's not the boy emitting the aroma, it's something inside his body. ]"
"Yeah, I know." Lynn nodded slightly, having already arrived at the answer in his mind.
"[Could it be... a Sacred Gear? ]" Ddraig's consciousness was a bit slow in realizing the truth.
An unknown object capable of being hidden inside an ordinary person's body that could draw his attention—thinking carefully, it seemed only a Sacred Gear fit the description.
"[The source of the hunger in my body is a craving for Sacred Gears... Lynn, what on earth did you do while I was asleep last night? ]"
"You can think of it as my special talent."
"[Talent? ]"
"Yeah, I used my talent to enhance the Sacred Gear. As for the result of the enhancement, it's just as you see now. You've developed a hunger for Sacred Gears and want to seek out new ones to eat."
"[And after eating them? ]"
"I don't know."
"[...?]"
"I just said, my talent is quite special. I don't know myself what will happen after the enhancement. It needs to be tested."
"[Are you sure you're talking about your own talent? ]" Ddraig was greatly shocked.
It was one thing for a talent to be able to enhance a Sacred Gear, but the enhancement effects needing to be explored?
Isn't this just fooling a fool?
"Don't worry about such small details." Lynn noticed the large loophole in his explanation and brushed it off to change the subject.
"Ddraig, besides the hunger for Sacred Gears, are there any other changes?"
"[No more. It seems I've just gained a function to lock onto Sacred Gears. Speaking of which, the boy just now isn't the only one in this school building emitting an aroma. ]"
"After all, this is the territory of devils. It's normal for there to be more people with Sacred Gears." Lynn wasn't particularly surprised by this.
In fact, he had already recognized the identity of the boy not far away.
Genshirou Saji, Sona's subordinate in the original work. The Sacred Gear in his body is the Absorption Line.
And setting aside Genshirou Saji, who had not yet become a devil.
Both Sona and Rias had other Sacred Gear Users under them.
Unsurprisingly, the other sources of 'fragrance' Ddraig mentioned referred to these people.
"Devouring Sacred Gear... It seems I need to figure out a way to get him a Sacred Gear to test the effect."
"[How do you plan to do that? ]"
"First, let's get a contact method."
Lynn walked toward Genshirou Saji: "You there, please wait a moment."
"Hmm?" Genshirou Saji, who was chatting with friends, paused: "You are...?"
"I am Lynn, a transfer student who just enrolled here today." Lynn smiled.
"I have some business to attend to at the Student Council. Could I trouble you to show me the way?"
"Of course.", Genshirou Saji agreed; it wasn't a difficult task for him.
He told his two companions to return to the classroom first, and then he led Lynn toward the Student Council.
"It's rare to have a transfer student at this point in the term. Where did you study before, Lynn?"
"China."
"China?" Genshirou Saji was surprised: "I didn't realize you transferred from another country."
Perhaps out of curiosity, Genshirou Saji subconsciously inquired about China.
The two chatted along the way and soon arrived at the entrance of the Student Council: "Here it is."
"Thanks." Lynn took out his phone: "Do you have Line? Let's exchange contact information."
"Sure!" Genshirou Saji didn't suspect anything and added Lynn as a friend: "I'll head back now. If you need any help, feel free to come find me anytime."
"Yeah, see you when we have time." Lynn didn't press him to stay and saw Genshirou Saji off.
Exchanging contact information was just a precaution.
In reality, on the way to the Student Council, he had already placed a mark on the other person.
As long as he wished, he could lock onto Genshirou Saji's coordinates and track him at any time.
"[Partner, are you planning to use the Sacred Gear Deprivation Ritual like before to take away the Sacred Gear inside him? ]"
Ddraig's voice sounded in Lynn's mind. Lynn nodded in response: "That's the only way I can do it."
"[Then let me try something. ]" Ddraig said: "[When you touched that boy just now, I suddenly felt a strange sensation, as if I could directly devour the Sacred Gear inside him. ]"
"Directly devour the Sacred Gear inside someone?" Lynn touched his chin thoughtfully.
Although this sounded a bit bizarre, considering the special nature of Mist Plaza, it wasn't strange for the modified Ddraig to develop a new ability.
"If that's the case, let's test it out then." Lynn turned, pushed open the Student Council door, and walked in.
Compared to yesterday, there were quite a few more people in the Student Council today; almost everyone was present.
Deep inside the Student Council, Sona, who was handling documents, stopped what she was doing: "Yukimura Lynn?"
"Good afternoon, Sona." Lynn walked over very familiarly: "I just awakened a new ability. Can you help me test it out?"
"Of course.", Sona nodded.
Although she was slightly surprised that Lynn came looking for her, she was very welcoming about it.
Rias wasn't the only one who received a mission; she had also received instructions to build a good relationship with him.
"What do I need to do?"
"You don't need to do anything; just lend me a Sacred Gear User."
"A Sacred Gear User?"
Upon hearing this, Sona turned her head to look at the girl not far away with long black hair and green-framed glasses.
Although she had recruited many subordinates, she only had one Sacred Gear User under her.
The Vice President of the Student Council, Tsubaki Shinra.
"Do I need to summon my Sacred Gear?" Tsubaki Shinra walked over when she heard their conversation and asked.
"No need to summon, just let me touch you."
Lynn summoned the Boosted Gear with a thought, raised his hand, and pressed it onto Tsubaki Shinra's shoulder.
At the same time, a strange feeling arose in Lynn's mind—it was a craving for the Sacred Gear.
Following Ddraig's reminder, he obeyed this craving and injected magical energy into the Sacred Gear.
The next second, the Boosted Gear was activated, and the green orb emitted a soft glow.
Under Lynn's gaze, the gray Mist inside the orb quietly seeped out, flowing into Tsubaki Shinra's body through the point of contact.
"Hmm?" Tsubaki Shinra's body stiffened, and she instinctively mobilized her magical energy to block it.
As she acted, Lynn also felt a resistance, but the resistance was still within an acceptable range.
As long as he increased the magical energy injection, the Mist could break through Tsubaki Shinra's blockade and reach the Sacred Gear.
Of course, Lynn didn't do that.
Although it was just a simple attempt, he already understood how to use the new ability.
He withdrew his hand and showed a slight smile: "Thank you for your cooperation, Tsubaki-san."
Tsubaki Shinra was stunned: "Is that it?"
Lynn nodded: "I was just confirming the activation process. Now that I understand it, there's no need to continue testing."
Understanding dawned on Tsubaki's face.
Although the duration was very brief, she indeed felt a sense of crisis the moment that Mist flowed into her body.
Her intuition told her that if she allowed Lynn to continue, the Sacred Gear inside her would likely be affected.
"Is that an ability of the Boosted Gear?"
"Yes, I awakened it this morning.", Lynn retracted the Boosted Gear and didn't elaborate much on the matter.
After chatting about daily topics with Sona, the school's lunch break was drawing to a close.
Lynn bid farewell to the two and left the Student Council, heading toward his classroom.
After seeing Lynn off, Sona looked at Tsubaki, a trace of curiosity on her face.
"What exactly did he do to you?"
"I'm not entirely clear on the specifics, but... my Sacred Gear seemed to be threatened.", Tsubaki relayed what had just happened to Sona.
After listening, Sona fell into deep thought.
Because she had to deal with Lynn, she had specifically consulted her older sister about the Red Dragon Emperor.
Serafall, who was a Satan, was very helpful and directly sent over information on past Red Dragon Emperors.
The usage methods of the Boosted Gear varied among past Red Dragon Emperors, which led to differences in their combat styles.
But from this information, it could be seen that the abilities of the Boosted Gear generally fell into two categories:
One, the multiplication ability Lynn used yesterday, which could continuously double one's power, leading to a leap in personal strength.
Two, transferring one's power to companions, weapons, or different techniques to greatly enhance their power.
Both abilities were very strong, especially the transfer ability, which had many advanced applications.
However, neither multiplication nor transfer inherently affected the activation of others' Sacred Gears.
"A newly awakened ability..."
Recalling what Lynn had said not long ago, a bold guess suddenly formed in Sona's mind.
Could this new ability be the third ability awakened by the Sacred Gear under Lynn's influence?
If that were true, didn't that mean Lynn's aptitude surpassed that of all previous Red Dragon Emperors, achieving an unprecedented feat just one day after awakening his Sacred Gear?
... Meanwhile, Lynn was unaware that Sona had already pieced together part of the truth based on mere clues.
Leaving the Student Council office, he made his way to the faculty office to meet his homeroom teacher.
The homeroom teacher was a middle-aged woman.
Perhaps having received prior notice, her attitude toward Lynn was extremely respectful.
Under the guidance of the homeroom teacher, the two quickly arrived in front of the third-year classroom.
The lunch break had just ended, and the students inside the classroom were chatting about various topics.
The homeroom teacher walked in first: "Everyone quiet down, I have an announcement to make."
As soon as she spoke, the noise in the classroom quickly vanished, falling silent.
Seeing this, the homeroom teacher continued speaking, going through the motions to announce the arrival of a transfer student.
Transferring in the third year after school started, and arriving in the classroom at this time of afternoon, the students were clearly a bit surprised.
But just then, a special energy fluctuation swept through the classroom, and Lynn pushed the door open and walked in.
Without going to the blackboard for self-introduction, Lynn walked straight to a seat in the back row.
At the same time, the homeroom teacher in front of the podium spoke again: "Lynn has just transferred into the class. After school, Rias, please show him around the campus."
Rias: "..."
The homeroom teacher continued: "It seems Rias has no issue. Let's begin the lesson."
As if having received confirmation, the homeroom teacher said a couple more sentences and began the afternoon classes.
The surrounding students also didn't notice anything amiss and picked up their textbooks to listen attentively.
Seeing this, Rias's expression was somewhat complex as she looked at Lynn beside her: "Misusing your power isn't a good habit."
"I just wanted to save time.", Lynn retorted calmly: "Compared to a lengthy introduction, doing this allows everyone to get to know me faster."
"But I didn't get to know you~" A new voice inserted itself into their conversation.
Akeno, sitting in the desk in front of them, turned around, a smile curling at the corner of her mouth: "I was really looking forward to your self-introduction, Lynn-san, but I didn't hear anything."
"It doesn't matter if you didn't hear it. Everything I prepared for the self-introduction was false information."
"Oh my~ That's quite direct."
"After all, they are just ordinary people; there's no need to get too involved.", Lynn replied without concealment.
Hearing this, Rias looked slightly puzzled: "Do you plan not to interact with the members of your class for the rest of the year?"
Lynn shook his head: "To be precise, I won't be staying at school much next year. I already self-studied the high school curriculum. I'd rather use that time to train."
"You're quite diligent. No wonder you're so strong.", Rias couldn't help but sigh after listening.
Unlike humans, Devils possess an innate advantage through their bloodline. As a Pure-Blooded Devil, Rias was already ahead at the starting line, possessing the power of a High-Class Devil at a young age.
Among the new generation of Devils, her strength was already considered top-tier. But even so, she was still far behind Lynn; even Lynn in his normal state couldn't compare.
Originally, she thought it was due to Lynn's talent.
Now it seemed that he was also very diligent in training, seizing every spare moment to improve his strength.
"Rias, can you give me an Evil Piece?"
Just then, Lynn suddenly asked.
"An Evil Piece?"
Rias snapped back to attention, looking slightly puzzled: "Didn't you say yesterday that you didn't plan on becoming a subordinate for now?"
"Not to become a subordinate, but for another use.", Lynn summoned the Boosted Gear with a thought again.
"I awakened a new ability this morning and want to use a Evil Piece to test the effect. Can you give me a Pawn piece?"
"A Pawn piece? Yes, I can."
Because she hadn't found suitable targets yet, all eight of Rias's Pawn pieces were still with her.
Seeing that Lynn wanted one, Rias took one out and handed it over.
"What are you planning to use it for?"
"Try eating it and see the effect."
"?"
...