Chapter 2: 2. Summon & City

“…I made my choice. My first summon will be Grayfia Lucifuge. She’s proficient at magic, a very capable maid, and is probably decent at hand-to-hand combat, right? Hold on a minute, does the ‘boss’ have some kind of ranking list or something…?” Leo asks Ageha.

<He does, let me show you. It’s quite simple…here it is.>

●●●●

Tier 0 – Normal Humans

Tier 1 – F to EX

Tier 2 – F to EX

Tier 3 – F to EX

Tier 4 – F to EX

Tier 5 – F to EX

Tier 6 – F to EX

Tier 7 – F to EX

Tier 8 – F to EX

Tier 9 – F to EX

Tier 10 – F to EX

Tier 11 – F to EX

Tier 12 – F to EX

●●●●

<You are currently in Tier 1 – E, your fight earlier with the goblins made you a little bit stronger. So, if I have to pick someone…say Grayfia Lucifuge, the one you want to summon, she is at Tier 4 – S. She’s quite powerful, right?>

< Tier 12 and beyond is what Boss is, you will eventually reach it. Tier 0 doesn't have the 'F to EX' since there are worlds that won't have any kind of energy, just like your previous one. So humans there won’t grow beyond the normal limit.>

Leo looks at the screen presented to him. “So, if I am looking at this right, I could essentially, put it like this, if I base it on Grayfia’s world, Tier 1 should be at least Low class, right?” He asks her.

<Yes, essentially.> Ageha confirms.

“So, Grayfia is…Ultimate Class – S, okay cool. What’s the rank of the strongest thing in this world?” Leo became even more curious. As far as his memory is concerned, Ultimate Class Devils have the power to destroy cities or continents. Well, at least that's what he remembers. In either case, he was getting a very powerful ally.

<The strongest beings in the world are the Gods and Goddesses who are in Tier 4 – SSS, unfortunately you cannot rely on Grayfia forever, you must grow in power. The strongest in her universe are Tier 8 – EX. You are aware that she isn’t near the top of the power hierarchy in her own universe.>

“I am. I was a big fan of the books, so I’m very familiar with them." Leo grinned. He got some useful information from that. What Ageha essentially confirmed for him was that Tier 8 was at least either God Class, or what Ophis was, a Dragon God. Therefore, in a way ‘Dragon God Class’, although that was never a real ranking there.

But he also knew how weak he was after seeing this brand-new ranking system the ‘Boss’ had. He—the Boss was at the very top, so Tier 12, he was near the bottom at Tier 1. But that begs the question…

"Hey, so let's say I'm at Tier 1 - E. What rank and tier do I have when using [Devour], or when using the [True Longinus]? That’s what got me thinking.” Leo asks her again.

<You know Sacred Gears have the potential to kill Gods, and of that universe the Gods are much more powerful, so that weapon has the potential to be Tier 8 alone, but right now with your inexperience and power? It’s at Tier 5 at best. Train more, get stronger, master what you have and proceed from there.> Ageha sighs <Do you want to summon her now, Leo?>

Leo pondered for a moment before shaking his head. “No, I’ll do that tomorrow instead, but at least I know who I want. Thanks.” Happy with the information he received, Leo lay on the ground and closed his eyes. Grayfia, huh? She’s pretty good looking too, although I have no idea what kind of personality she’ll have. The only guarantee I’ll have is her loyalty.

Leo pondered about it for a few more minutes. Now that I think about it, what do I want out of my love life starting from now on? Isn’t a harem a possibility? I’ve seen and read about it in my past life, but it should be quite difficult to maintain, right? I need a stable enough income, a home… As Leo thought about it, he only thought of more problems. Maybe a small one for now…I'll muse about it more in the morning. And with those thoughts, he finally drifted off to sleep.

●●●●

The next day had arrived, and our protagonist was still happily sleeping, however—.

<Wake up!!!>

“Shit?! Enemy?!” Leo jumps up and smacks his head against the cave ceiling. “Ow?! What the fu—huh? W-what? No enemies…?” He asked confused while looking around himself. The fire he lit up the night before had presumably burned out while he slept. He also didn’t find any enemies around him.

“What the hell, Ageha? I was having a nice nap!” He complained to her.

<Suck it up, it’s 8 in the morning and you still have a 3-hour journey ahead of you. Anyway, go outside and I’ll begin the summoning of Grayfia Lucifuge, oh and go into the small forest, you don’t want unnecessary attention until you get stronger, right?>

“Yeah, yeah, I hear you mom.” Leo waved her off and left the cave and jumped down to the ground. He walks a bit further into the small section with the trees and finds a small opening. “I’m ready, mom.”

<Don’t call me that! All right, hold on.> Ageha says and she falls silent.

Leo waits there patiently for around a minute, however, another minute passes and it finally happened. The ground in front of them glows, then what seems to be a magic circle appears. From it came a young woman appearing to be in her early twenties with back-length silver hair that features a long braid on each side with small blue bows at the ends, while the rest is let down which ends in twin braids and red eyes. She is wearing a blue and white French maid outfit with long sleeves and a white maid headband over her head with red lipstick as a cosmetic accessory.

“…” Leo stared at the woman. To him, she had an ineffable beauty that made him speechless. Of course, the woman in question was Grayfia Lucifuge, and she was equally confused by his staring.

“Leo-sama?” Grayfia asks in confusion.

L-Leo-sama? Why is she jumping straight to that already? Leo couldn’t help but think, but he still couldn’t come up with the words to say anything.

<Speak you stupid wombat.> Ageha said a bit irritated.

Ignoring the nagging whale, Leo addressed Grayfia. “Grayfia, right? I’m Leo Schwarzer. A pleasure to meet you.” Leo put his hand out for a handshake. Grayfia looks at it for a few seconds before shaking his hand back.

“Yes, I will be in your care from now on, Leo-sama.” She adds a smile at the end making the young man’s heart skip a beat. If the usual cliché was here, he would have already fallen in love, or had he?

“Yeah, let’s get along then.” Leo says with a small chuckle. “We have a 3-hour journey ahead of us…” Leo says and Grayfia nods. Leo leads the way out while he is followed. They eventually arrive at the road and start walking side by side. However, Leo felt a bit awkward. A guy in casual clothing and a beautiful woman in a French maid outfit.

Hey, Ageha, does she, you know…know anything? Is she also married to Sirzechs? Leo had this in the back of his mind. He was meant to ask this earlier, but got caught up in the excitement and completely forgot to.

<Different histories, and different universes, Leo. Infinite universes make anything a reality. You’ll be the one governing it in the future, get used to it. Anyway, to go into a bit of detail, but you’ll have to ask her about it in the future.> Ageha pauses and sighs.

<Sirzechs Lucifer, or as he is currently known as Sirzechs Gremory as of now, is already married in that universe, and it had only been a few years since the end of the civil war. Anyway, she’s single if that’s what you’re worried about. Anyway, she’s on amicable terms with Sirzechs, but a bit of bad blood is still there.>

"..." Leo listened in carefully. He didn't know what to think, so nothing much has changed, right? The Grayfia that he summoned was from the civil war era, and not what he considered ‘canon’ so in a sense, she was still quite young and inexperienced. That doesn’t explain if she knows anything about me though.

<I was getting to that. She knows the basics, she knows the multiverse and omniverse are real now, she is also aware of what your ‘destiny’ is, so she will fully support you. However, every person you summon will have a ‘wish’ they wish to be granted. Help them fulfill it in the future.>

A wish to be granted? Well, if what I just learned from you…then is it safe to assume Grayfia’s wish has something to do with her universe and probably Sirzechs, and maybe her clan? Leo thought. However, Leo also saw this as an opportunity to increase their loyalty and affection for him. So it was a win-win for him.

<Heh, you’re smarter than you seem, Leo. But you are correct, but like I said, you have to find that out yourself in detail from her. Who knows, you may get a lover out of it.>

I’m no Casanova, but thanks, I guess? Leo chuckles to himself. He glances beside him and saw that Grayfia was observing him. “Ah, sorry, I was—er, you know, Ageha…”

“Yes, please don’t mind me, Leo-sama.” She says casually and keeps looking at him.

Not entirely sure in what to do, Leo just awkwardly laughs and decided to increase his pace. Grayfia is much stronger than him, so she could outpace him and out speed him easily, so going faster to reach the city shouldn’t be a problem. Grayfia easily matched his current top speed after his theory was confirmed. Oh, that reminds me—.

<Yes, they will grow stronger along with you, Tier 12, but nothing beyond that.> As if Ageha read his mind, she said that abruptly, although Leo was thankful for the information.

“Grayfia, this may be sudden, but do you mind teaching me how to properly use magic?” Leo asks the maid who was casually keeping up with his speed. Grayfia nods silently at his inquiry. “Thank you.”

●●●●

30 minutes had passed, and they had made decent progress. However, they haven't run into any problems so far. But Leo jinxed himself since up ahead of them he could see some kind of monster blocking the road.

“Those are…ogres?” Leo could see that they were big, very big, they had brown skin and short fangs coming out of their mouths. The two of them stop some distance away. Leo carefully observed them from a distance. However, Grayfia steps forward. “Grayfia?” he asks confused.

“Allow me to be of service, Leo-sama.” She says confidently and starts walking towards her enemies.

Leo was about to say something but remembered that Grayfia was Tier 4 and an S at that. He silently nods and let her do her thing. Grayfia finally comes within sight of the ogres and they turn their attention towards her.

“Wooooooomaaaaaaaaaaaan!” One of the brutes screams and it grabs the attention of the rest of the ogres around him. They all turn to Grayfia and they were obviously lusting after her.

I was hoping the world wasn’t too messed up…but I guess I was wrong, oh boy. I guess I gotta steel my resolve more. Leo sighed as he saw the ogres nearly reach Grayfia, but what happened next shocked him.

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One moment, the ogres were running towards Grayfia, tongues out, and the tents in their thin loincloth around their groin were pointing towards the heavens, and the next moment, the entire area, including the ogres, and a small part of the ground in front of Leo was completely frozen in ice.

Fucking hell that nearly got me…but holy shit, she’s sexy, beautiful and strong. My type of woman…although the helpless heroine isn't terrible either. But damn… Leo couldn’t help but stare at Grayfia in awe. Finally, he got up from his spot and walked over to the maid. When he arrived beside her, she glances at him.

“What shall we do with them, Leo-sama?” she asks him as she gestures at the frozen ogres.

Leo nods. “Hmm, they must sell for something in the world, right? But we don’t have a way to store them…” He was troubled, but Grayfia looks back at the frozen ogres. Unknown to Leo, they were already dead. Grayfia didn’t just freeze them. She froze and killed them at the same time.

“It is no problem, Leo-sama. I can store them in a separate space.” Grayfia points her palm at the frozen ogres. A magic circle appears underneath them and they disappear.

Leo was shocked. “You can use spatial magic? I didn’t know that…that would be convenient to have. I’d like to learn that too…” He said a bit enviously, and for the first time, Leo saw Grayfia smile and softly chuckle.

“I am your magic teacher and maid, Leo-sama. I will teach you as many things as I can.” Grayfia says with a reassuring smile, and Leo nodded appreciatively.

“I look forward to it then. Let’s keep going then, we still have two and a half hours left.”

“Yes.”

The encounter with the monsters was cut short due to how strong Grayfia was, however, it wasn’t the last time they had to deal with them. As they start to leave the area, the ice created by Grayfia starts to disappear and the area goes back to normal.

●●●●

This time, an hour passed, and the pair finally encountered another problem. This time, they were a large group of goblins. They were the same ones that Leo encountered yesterday. “Those are... goblins. I fought some yesterday. Let me handle this, Grayfia. I want to get stronger too.” Leo says and glances at Grayfia who agrees with him.

“Very well, Leo-sama. I will keep an eye out, and assist you when required.” She says and the two of them walk towards the large group of goblins. From a quick glance, it seemed like there were around 30 of them in total, much larger than what he fought yesterday.

Leo put his hand out and summoned his Sacred Gear the [True Longinus] and Grayfia’s eyes widen in surprise.

“T-that’s…”

“Yeah, it’s a Sacred Gear. I want to learn how to be a better spear user, so I won’t rely too much on its powerful abilities.” Leo says and Grayfia gives him a small nod. “Anyway, here I go!” Leo then dashes towards the large group of goblins. Even though he said he wouldn’t rely too much on the powers of [True Longinus], that didn’t mean he wouldn’t use his other powers!

"Burn!" He screams, as he ignites his left hand with flames, then punches in front of him. A medium-sized stream of fire is released from his fist and hits the large group of goblins! He could hear them screaming in agony. However, some of them kept going, and were even angrier than before!

Ting! Ting!

The goblin with the sword swings it at Leo, who blocks it with his spear. Then he swings his spear towards the goblin and overpowers it, but he was also blocked by another goblin. Their combined might starts to push him back. Shit, I’m weaker than two goblins?! …How about this then?!

Leo ignites his right foot and kicks the other goblin who had joined the other. This sends the other one away, and also puts him on fire. Leo grinned at the other goblin who looks shocked. Leo exerts more force and pushes the goblin away and staggers him. Taking this chance, he brings his spear up and down on the goblin's head! Once the monster was down, he pierced its head with the sharp tip!

The few who were still alive were just burning alive while screaming. Seeing this as a good opportunity, he put his left palm towards the dead or dying goblins. “Devour.” Like the previous day, they were sucked up in a jet-black aura, and Leo felt his own power grow. “That feels nice…” After he says that he hears clapping behind him.

“Wonderfully done, Leo-sama.” Grayfia comes over and looks at the area with a bit of confusion. “What did you do? It seemed like a very powerful ability, paired with your Sacred Gear…” she trails off and looks at the spear by his side.

“It’s a unique ability I have called ‘Devour’, and I can consume or absorb fallen enemies. They are then converted into strength for me, and I have a chance to gain one of their abilities...so far, I have gained fire manipulation.” Leo ignites his free hand again and then dismisses it.

Grayfia nods. “I see, I am also proficient at demonic fire, so I will be able to help guide you.”

“Yeah, thanks in advance again.” Leo says but Grayfia keeps looking at the [True Longinus]. Aren’t Devils weak against this thing? Leo thought and looks at the spear too.

<It is not the original [True Longinus], unlike what you know, this has been modified to suit you. So unless you see Grayfia Lucifuge in front of you as an enemy, it will not hurt her.> Ageha says quite tiredly.

Really? That’s convenient then, I need to thank Boss for this when we meet again. Leo thought and grinned. Grayfia sees this and looks at him questioningly. “Ah, it’s nothing. I just spoke with Ageha. Anyway, you won’t be hurt by this, it’s been modified to suit me. Anyway, we’re not that far now, we should reach the city or town soon.” Leo says and they set off again.

●●●●

It didn’t take long for them to see it. It was just in the distance. However, it was quite a sight to behold. Even Grayfia was in awe of it, and she had seen even more luxurious places in the Underworld of her home before.

In the distance they could make out a massive city. Very high walls covered it all around. They were made out of stone covered in strong magic. A number of large towers could be seen from the distance in which they were located. As they got closer to the city, they could see that the road ahead of them was clear. Fortunately for them, it didn’t seem like anyone else was trying to enter the city.

<Leo, you will need some gold to get permits to enter the city. If you want a permanent one, you will need to pay 5 gold. It’s 5 gold each per person, so here’s 10, don’t waste it now.> Ageha suddenly says, and 10 gold coins appear in his hand surprising him a little.

Grayfia also notices this and looks at him strangely. “We need gold for a permanent permit. What a hassle…” Leo says with a sigh. However, Grayfia just nods. They eventually arrive near it and start to walk at a normal pace.

“Halt! State your business!” Once they arrive at the entrance, two guards stop them. They had spears by their sides and looked at Leo and Grayfia with suspicion.

“We are travelers and want to explore this city.” Leo says. One of the guards nods and gestures with his head to the other to check both of them out. The other guard walks over to Leo and starts to pat him down.

“This is a formality. I hope you understand. We do it to everyone.” The other guard says in a neutral tone, and his serious expression never leaving his face.

However, when the other guard gets to Grayfia she gives him a death glare making both of them shiver. Instead of touching Grayfia, like what the guard did to Leo, he just looks her over closely before nodding.

“They are clear to go. Remember folks, the temporary permit is 5 silver for a week's stay, and if you wish to extend it, it is another 5 silver. For permanent permits, it’s 5 gold each.” The guard who issues a search for them says to them, and both of them give him a curt nod.

Talk about a death glare. She even made me freeze a bit. I don’t want to be on the receiving end of that. Although, I can guess that my summons should have a degree of affection towards me. Leo thought as they walk away. Both of them look around the city, and the inside was much more extravagant.

The houses here look quite expensive. Many of them were made out of high-quality stone, some even more marble, and other types of stone that Leo had never seen before. The roofs all have distinct colors, and look different from one another. The city was lively and bustling with life, but what surprised him even more was that—.

“There are not just humans in here, huh?” He says to himself, but Grayfia heard him.

“Yes, it seems many other creatures exist, and in my universe, they’re referred to as youkai. There are many of them roaming around alongside humans.” Grayfia says while observing everything.

I doubt it’s perfect harmony though, like with everything else in the world… Leo thought. He wasn’t naïve enough to believe something like true or perfect harmony existed in the world. That would be stupid. These were probably the safer parts of this city. It needs to be tested at night, and in the 'unsafe' parts.

“Let’s go get our permits first. From what Ageha said there appears to be an adventurer’s guild in this world. Therefore, we can probably earn a living through that.” Leo says and then starts to walk back to where the guards were. “Hey, where do we get our permits?” Leo asks the guards who facepalm.

“Forgive me traveler, we forgot to mention that. Proceed to a building that’s named 'Permnagus'. That's where all official permits are issued." The guard informs them. Leo thanks them before turning around.

Permnagus, huh? What a strange name. Leo thought, although he wasn’t known for being good at coming up with nicknames for himself or others. So, Leo and Grayfia set out to find this new building. During this time they saw many parts of this new city.

“…Man I’m hungry…I just remembered that I didn’t eat yesterday, and smelling that…” Leo says out loud as he smells something good. Grayfia stops to look at him before sighing.

“You didn’t eat, Leo-sama?” She asks in a stern voice.

“No…?” he hesitantly answered. He then heard Ageha laughing and some gold appearing in Grayfia’s hand. Grayfia looks at the newly acquired gold and nods. She stuffs them into her pockets(?) and they continue. Where did those coins disappear to?! To Leo, women’s pockets were one of the biggest mysteries of the world!

After walking around for a while (and asking people where it was) they eventually found the building. “I would like to say, I was exploring the city, and my pride did not get in the way of asking for directions.” Leo says confidently.

“Yes, of course, Leo-sama.” Grayfia did not believe him. Even though the two of them only met today, Grayfia felt like she had known him for a long time already. Leading the way, Grayfia grabs Leo’s hand and drags him into the building.

Leo, however, did not fight it. Ultimately, he accepted his fate and stepped into the building. Once inside the building both Leo and Grayfia look around. The interior of the building was quite simple. Regular wooden tables, chairs, and the counter was also wood. There were quite a few other people here, some normal humans, and others were the ‘youkai’ that Grayfia described.

There was a sign on one of them that said ‘Booth 1'. There were about 6 of them in total. Because the other 3 were already in use, Grayfia and Leo headed to the free one.

“We would like to buy permanent permits.” Leo says as soon as they arrive in front of Booth 1. The person behind the desk was a male lizard person, he had green scales, blue eyes and was wearing what seemed to be the official uniform. This was similar to the other staff in the building.

“Very well, please sign your names here, and that will be 5 gold each, totaling to 10 gold.” The lizard man tells them. Both Leo and Grayfia sign their own permits, and Leo hands over the 10 gold. The lizard man takes the permits and gold, he gets up and leaves to the back of the building.

Leo and Grayfia wait there as their permits were being processed. Leo took this time to look around some more and he could see that some of the other patrons were here for other reasons and not to get permits. I wonder how difficult it is to acquire gold in this world? Leo takes note of the other patrons and they didn’t look too well off, some were in rags.

Leo notices Grayfia also seeing this, and their eyes meet. They silently nod to each other. The lizard man finally appears and presents them with their permits. “Please keep these safe. You are now officially registered in the City of Vrearc. However, if you do somehow lose it, it will be another 5 gold to renew it, so please keep that in mind.” The lizard man explains.

“I see, thank you.” Both Leo and Grayfia take their own permits. Leo looks at it for a moment before looking at the lizard man again. “By the way, do you know where the adventurer’s guild is?” To this, the lizard man nods.

“Yes, from this building, turn right, and follow a path that has many restaurants on all sides. After that, turn right again, and then once you arrive at a fountain, turn left and in front of you will be the Adventurer’s Guild." He explains.

“Thank you.” Leo thanks him again and the pair of them leave the building. Once outside, Leo remembered something. He had completely forgotten to ask Ageha about it. Hey, Ageha, what’s this world or universe's name?

<It took you long enough. This world’s name is Phazerene. In total there are 7 continents. They are Okaxes, Imzaux, Lilynipa, Grosscarriage, Diaplka, Editinjka, and Oseon. Each of them operates differently and has different cultures. Of course, there is the God realm Aesox and the Demon realm Ekor. This world is also 20 times larger than earth, so you’ll be traveling for a while.>

<The City of Vrearc is in the continent of Grosscarriage, and is just a small city by comparison to the other ones. Grosscarriage is also one of the weakest, and poorest continents in this world. Please keep that in mind.> Ageha explains, and Leo was kind of surprised.

I wasn’t expecting it to be that large! But its strongest beings are just in Tier 4 which is surprising… Leo felt someone touch his shoulder and he looks beside him to see Grayfia. “Oh, my bad, I was talking to Ageha. I actually learned a lot of things. Let's walk and talk to the Adventurer’s Guild.” Leo says and Grayfia agrees.

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