High School DxD Crossover: Defying The Heavens

Issei looked at the man in front of him puzzled. "Vampire?" he thought. Issei had never heard of that term before. His brows creased. "This doesn't explain anything at all," he murmured to himself.

"Hmm...Shinso-san?" Issei asked, fidgeting in his seat.

"What?" Shinso turned his head to back to look at him. "Anything you want to ask?"

"Hmm...," Issei began, avoiding Shinso's gaze. "What's a vampire?"

Shinso's eyes widened slightly. All of a sudden, he remembered whom he was talking to. "It seems that some explaining is in order," Shinso thought to himself whilst sighing.

"Well... a vampire is...," he begun, his eyes locked onto Issei, who had an expectant look plastered all over his face. "A vampire is a species, like humans...," he continued, still unsure of how to explain. "And they have special powers," Shinso concluded. He doubted that he would be able to come up with an explanation worse than that, but it'd have to do for the time being. In his opinion, vampires were a complex race. It would take a long time to explain it clearly.

Issei nodded slowly, absorbing the sparse information inside his brain. He then looked over to Shinso. "You're not human?" he asked, trying to make sure that he heard what Shinso had said correctly.

"No."

"And you have special powers?" Issei asked.

"Yes."

The information that Shinso had given him couldn't be considered as enlightening. The only thing he found out was that the man wasn't human, but he had already expected that. "What are your special powers?" Issei finally asked after much thought.

A smile appeared on Shinso's face. That question he could answer easily. However, just as he's about to open his mouth, he stopped, and a strange expression took over his face. His mouth opened and closed a few times, but no words came out. Shinso's brows furrowed. After a long time, he sighed and said, "We have… many powers. Actually, in the place where I come from, everyone can have powers… but vampires have it easier… or something."

"Many… powers?" Issei tilted his head to the side, staring at Shinso blankly. "Any examples?"

"Well…," Shinso adopted a thoughtful expression. "If you're asking for my personal powers, then I can name a few," he said after much thought. "For example, I can fly."

"Really?!" Issei's eyes widened in shock, only to be replaced by enthusiasm. "Awesome!" Like many kids, flying through the sky was one of the things he d.e.s.i.r.ed to do the most. "Can I become a vampire too?" he earnestly asked.

Shinso started. He pondered over it before responding, "There's a way."

Issei's eyes widened as his down-cast look disappeared as soon as it came. "So it's possible?" he inquired, trying to make sure he had heard it correctly.

Shinso nodded, happy that the kid was smiling again. "Yes, it's indeed possible," he confirmed, causing Issei's smile to widen even further. "But only if you work hard. In order to become a vampire, your body must be strong," he quickly added.

Issei quickly nodded repeatedly. "I promise I will work hard!" He raised his fist up into the air, acting just like any other kid his age. Shinso chuckled at Issei's reaction. The boy was beginning to grow on him.

"Good," Shinso praised, seeing the look of determination in the kid's eyes. "Maybe he could really become a vampire," he mused in his mind. He quickly shook his head. It would be a long time before that moment comes. He looked back at the road in order to pretend to check how much time left until he reached his castle. As he looked, he narrowed his eyes before looking back at the kid.

"Issei," he said. "Try to get some sleep. It will take some time for us to reach the castle, a few hours at least."

As if Shinso's words had reminded him of a human's basic necessity, Issei yawned and nodded. He had barely slept and he was tired. Taking Shinso up on his offer, he laid his body down on the large horse, letting his consciousness wander into the realm of dreams.

Shinso chuckled at the speed the kid had fallen asleep. "He must have been really tired," Shinso murmured to himself. After some thought, he used his arms to lift Issei up and laid him down in front of him, in a place where he could keep him from falling down.

"Good kid," he muttered slowly, a hint of a smile on his face. Taking his attention off Issei, he glanced at his horse and sighed. "You can stop now," Shinso said quietly.

Surprisingly, the horse nodded its head and stopped in place. Shinso jumped off the horse and looked back at his old friend. "Keep him safe."

Shinso looked at the woods. "I know you guys are there!"

The moment he said those words, some rattling sounds came from the woods in front of them. All of a sudden, people started to appear, walking out from bushes, or even jumping down from trees. There were at least twenty of them, all of them clad in shining silver armor. Shinso stared at them up and down, his gaze strange. "Looks expensive," he concluded in his mind.

"So, twice in the same day, huh?" he said in irony. "Seriously, today definitely isn't my best day," he said before he looked at what seemed to be the leader of the group. Although all of them were wearing silver armor, this person, in particular, was clad in black. Because of that, he assumed him to be the leader.

"So… judging from your differently-styled armor, you should be the leader." Shinso glanced at a warrior that wore black armor. "Mind telling me what you're doing here?" he casually asked. "Don't tell me that I have gotten myself new stalkers."

Instead of answering Shinso, the man clad in black took off his helmet, revealing a handsome and heroic face. "When did you discover us?" he asked in a deep baritone voice.

Shinso sighed and shook his head. "That's not how it works. You answer my question first."

"I see...," the black-armored man trailed off, slowly assuming what could be considered as a battle-stance. The other warriors did the same. "We were ordered to kill you," he finally answered.

Shinso raised his left eyebrow. "Ordered?" he repeated in a surprised tone. "By whom?"

The man snarled. "You know who," he spat.

Shinso merely sighed. "For the second time today, I don't. It's not like I keep track of the people I mess with. If I did, I'm afraid there wouldn't be enough paper in the world to make that damn list."

The man in dark armor huffed in annoyance. "Lincus. He ordered me."

Shinso adopted a surprised look at the mention of that name. He was well aware of who the person was but didn't remember angering such person. "Lincus? I don't remember doing anything to that fellow."

The dark knight stared back at Shinso with disdain. "He didn't tell us the reason. All we know is that we're sent to kill you, and we'll do just that," he said darkly. Suddenly, his feet struck against the ground and he dashed forward, like a fierce beast. His sword lunged at Shinso, cutting a deep gash in his stomach. Shinso took a few steps back, coughing up some blood.

Shinso spat even more blood smearing the ground in red. His face was overshadowed by his long, gray hair. "You got me...," he began, his countenance twisted in a painful expression. All of a sudden, he grinned. Throwing his head back, he laughed loudly, as if he had just heard the funniest joke in existence. "Just kidding."

The twenty or so warriors could only stare in shock as the large wound on Shinso's stomach closed up at speed visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye. Within seconds, it was completely healed. If it wasn't for the tear in his clothes, they wouldn't have thought that Shinso had been wounded in the first place.

Shinso stared at the man sharply, a smart and shrewd smirk on his face. "Tough luck," he said. "You just chose the wrong job."

Shinso slowly lifted up his hand and grabbed at thin air. Everyone's eyes widened as huge sword materialized on his hands – a greatsword. The sword was so large and wide that it rivaled the size of the great vampire. The leader of the group took a step back.

"How can this be?!" he cried out in fear.

"He didn't tell us about-"

Before the man could continue, his body was split in half by Shinso, causing blood to fly in all directions.

"Oops," Shinso said as he looked down on the bisected man before looking over to the dead man's group. "So, who's next?" he asked as a maniacal smirk took over his face. Everyone's eyes widened in a mix of fear, shock, and disbelief. As if they had reached a silent agreement, everyone suddenly turned around and began to run away. At that moment, the image of a blood-thirsty demon overlapped with that of Shinso's, scaring them silly.

After making sure that everyone was far away, Shinso sighed as he smeared the blood on his sword onto the floor. With a flick of his fingers, the greatsword disappeared into thin air. Shinso shook his head to the sides exasperatedly. He was getting too old for this kind of stuff. Fighting weaklings all the time was boring and, dare he say, incredibly tedious. Sadly, when one reaches the level of power that Shinso had, one would consider all the inhabitants of the realm he was currently in as weaklings.

Shinso slowly walked back to the horse, flashing a look of disgust at the bisected man. Surprisingly, Shinso wasn't exactly fond of killing. What he did before was just an act to make everyone go away. It wasn't that he felt bad about killing, but he didn't like it either. In short, he was somewhat neutral about it. If he had to, he would kill, but if there was no need, he wouldn't. To him, it was a waste of time to mingle with humans of this realm.

"So, still going to the castle?" the horse asked, seeing as Shinso was once more on top of him. Shinso nodded as he got Issei in a position that he wouldn't fall off easily.

"Yes," he said, making the horse continue running. As they ran, the landscape passed as a blur to Shinso. He could only wonder at how his life would change now that he would have a little boy living with him.

A smirk appeared on Shinso's face. "Well, this could be fun." He extended his left hand and concentrated a little. Power then started flowing out of his body and extended outwards.

Shortly after, a pitch-black fissure in space appeared a few meters in front of his horse. The horse didn't stop as it continued running and entered the fissure as if it was already a normal occurrence for him.

After passing through the fissure, Shinso smiled as he looked at the massive doors in front of him. It had directly sent them to the entrance of his residence in the Middle Realm.

"Finally!" Shinso said as he casually got off the horse, cradled the sleeping Issei in his arms and walked to the massive doors, his horse already disappearing.

Upon reaching the doors, he knocked on it with his left hand, while managing Issei with his right. Soon enough the doors opened, revealing a beautiful woman wearing a maid outfit. She had long, black hair, crimson-colored eyes, and a slender, yet voluptuous body.

She immediately bowed as she noticed who the person in front of her was.

"Shinso-sama."

All of a sudden, Shinso's ironic and playful attitude turned into one of nobility. A gentle smile appeared on his face as he looked at the maid. "It's nice to see you, Sayla," he greeted her.

The maid, Sayla, used that opportunity to lift her head. "How was the ques-" Sayla stopped mid-way, noticing the boy in Shinso's arms. "Who's he, master?" she asked as she motioned her head to Issei.

"Oh, this is Issei," Shinso said as he looked down at the brown haired boy. "Your Young Master I guess," he smiled, momentarily revealing traces of his playful expression.

Sayla's eyes widened in shock. "Young Master?" she repeated, astonished. She had no idea what she had expected from the quest that Shinso went on, but she definitely didn't expect to gain a Young Master of sorts.

"Yes, he's your Young Master," Shinso said as he walked in. Inside, there was a huge salon with two parallel and spiral staircases. Noticing the absence of the other maids and butlers, he looked back at Sayla. "Take him to one of the unused rooms. Preferably one close to mine. Tell me when he wakes up," he said as he handed the boy over to his maid.

"Of course, Shinso-sama," she said as she caught the young boy and placed him on her arms. She knew that all would be explained later, so she didn't question her master anymore. Just as she was about to walk away, Shinso called out to her, "I will be in my study. Don't forget to call me the moment he wakes."

"Yes, Shinso-sama," Sayla bowed once more. After that, she turned around and continued her trip to the future room of her Young Master. Upon nearing the large staircase, she began climbing it, making sure to hold tightly to the young boy in her arms. After reaching the end of the staircase, she turned left and walked to the direction of one of the various unused rooms. She entered the room carefully so as to not wake Issei up.

"So, what now?" she asked herself as she placed the sleeping boy on top of the bed. She wondered if she should just cover him with the covers as he was or if she should change his clothes first. Opting to change his clothes first, she walked over to the closet, hoping that there would be some clothes for a being of his small size.

Upon opening it, she sighed as she saw that there were none. "Of course there aren't, stupid," she scolded herself. "There hasn't been a child in this house before."

She looked over to the boy sleeping soundly on top of the bed. She could not help but find his peaceful, sleeping face cute. However, she quickly returned to her problem. "There aren't any kid's clothes in the castle…" she murmured to herself.

Suddenly, her eyes widened as she remembered some unused clothes that Shinso had. An idea formed in her mind, which included said clothes. She quickly exited the room, only to come back with the upper part of a gray-colored robe.

Placing the shirt next to the boy, she saw that it would cover his entire body. She smiled at her shrewdness. Just as she was about to undress the boy and dress him in the new clothes she had arranged, she suddenly stopped, taking notice of how dirty he was. It was as if he had never taken a bath in his whole life, which probably wasn't too far from the truth.

Taking it upon herself to clean him, she picked up the n.a.k.e.d boy and brought him to the bathroom that was located in his room's bathroom. She then let him rest on the floor as she quickly filled up the large bathtub with lukewarm water. After it was full, she picked up the boy and placed him on it. The instant she did that, the water darkened, because of the dirt covering the boy's body. She scowled at the sight; she truly disliked dirty things.

As she watched the dirt disappear from the boy's body, she searched around the bathroom for something that her master had introduced to her recently, some tens of years ago in fact. It was called soap. She fell in love at first sight with it. Being a clean freak, she couldn't hope for anything better than soap. Finding the miraculous item, she began to spread it on the boy's body very lightly, as to not wake him up. Thankfully, he was under Shinso's sleeping spell, so he wouldn't wake up anyways.

As his body became cleaner, a horrified expression appeared on her face. Because of the dirt, she hadn't noticed it before, but now it was clear. The boy's body was completely covered in scars. Scars from wh.i.p.s, daggers, knives.

"How could someone do this?" she murmured in anger as she took notice of the huge number of scars on the boy's body. That made her wonder even more where her master had gotten him. Was he a past slave or something? That would make sense, given her master's mission, but she couldn't be sure. Deciding to just focus on the situation at hand, she finished cleaning his body and dressed him in the large, unused shirt.

After she was done, she placed the boy back in the bed and walked around to leave the room. Just as she was about to leave, she remembered her master's words.

Don't forget to call me the moment he wakes up.

How would she know the moment the boy wakes up? The only way would be to keep a constant watch on him. Not wanting to let down her master, Sayla sat down on a chair, patiently waiting for her Young Master to wake up.

Brown eyes fluttered open as Issei woke up. Just upon exiting his deep slumber, he looked around the room he was in, curiosity all over his face, taking in all of its furniture – The large, King-sized bed he was sleeping in, a sofa on the right corner of the room, a beautiful painting of a dragon in the wall opposite to his bed, and, finally, a chair near his bed, with a woman sleeping on it.

When Issei saw the beautiful woman in maid outfit resting on the chair, his first instinct was to go over to her and investigate but dispelled this thought quickly. He had learned to be wary of strangers at an early age, and he wasn't about to be careless. So, Issei first quickly looked at his environment once more, in order to localize the door, in case the woman was dangerous. After finding it on the same wall the bed was touching, but a little farther to the right side, Issei carefully got out of the bed, in order to not make any noise.

As he got out, he finally noticed his change in attire. Looking at the large shirt that reached his shins, Issei stopped his movements for a while to enjoy the feeling of softness it possessed. Never before in his miserable life had he worn such good clothes.

After a minute or so of enjoying the pure softness of the material, Issei continued his trip to the door, treading carefully, doing his utmost to not make any noise. Much to his dismay, just as he was nearing the door, he heard a noise coming from the direction of the young woman.

Fright all over his face, Issei slowly turned his head around, only to see the young woman waking up. The woman first looked at the bed, and upon noticing that it was empty, her head immediately searched around the room for Issei.

"Ah!" She exclaimed with a delighted yet surprised tone as she quickly got off the bed and walked towards Issei. "You woke up!"

Issei, taken off-guard by her sudden movements, hurriedly took a step back, crashing into the wall behind him, faintly bruising the back of his head.

"Ouch..." Issei muttered as he rubbed the back of his head, but never taking his attention off the woman, knowing that she could mean potential danger. The woman, on the other hand, gave off a faint laugh at the frightened boy. She couldn't help but find it funny how he had injured himself. But, soon enough, her duty as a maid prevailed as she quickened her pace and arrived in front of the boy, kneeling in front of him in order to face him face to face.

"Are you alright, young master?" She asked as she eyed the boy's head. Issei, didn't answer as he looked around the room once more, and seeing that he was cornered, he gave in. He decided to not run and instead determine whether the young woman was a threat or not.

"I am..." He muttered softly before remembering the way she had addressed him. Blinking his eyes in confusion, he stared at the young woman's eyes. "Young master?" He asked as he tilted his head to the side slightly.

The woman chuckled at the child's antics. She had to admit that he was a rather cute child. She then nodded to his previous question, "Yes, Young Master. You're my Young Master now."

Issei slowly let his guard down, but not completely. He looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Why?" Was his simple, one-word question.

"Why what?" The maid asked, also confused.

Issei sighed internally, "Why am I your Young Master?" He elaborated his previous question, seeing that she hadn't understood him previously.

"Ah..." The maid muttered before smiling lightly. "Well, I don't really know the details. All I know is that Shinso said that you're now my Young Master," She explained truthfully. To say the truth, she was also curious as to what had happened and wanted to get some insight from the boy, but upon seeing that he was just as oblivious as her to the situation at hand, she crushed that thought.

"Shinso?" Issei asked, his eyes brightening up instantly as he heard the name of his savior. He immediately asked the maid in front of him in hurry, "Where is he?"

The maid, noticing Issei's one hundred and eighty degrees' personality change, chuckled a little before getting up from her kneeling position and looked and the little boy. "Follow me, Issei-sama," She said as started walking to the door.

Issei quickly nodded and followed her out of the room. As soon as they got out of the room, Issei couldn't help but take a step back in surprise because in front of him was the most luxurious interior he had ever seen. Even though his late master's house was quite lavish, it paled in comparison to Shinso's castle. Walls made of the whitest of jades with gold statues and paintings all around the walls, floor, and ceiling.

The massive size of the area also took away Issei's breath. It was huge. Incredibly huge. Just from looking up, he could see that the ceiling was at least ten meters away from the ground. Also, he seemed to be on the third floor. He quickly approached the edge of the passageway that was blocked by a golden fence and peered down, only to see the first floor way below him. All in all, the castle was sumptuous to an impossible extent.

The maid simply looked at the awestruck Issei with a smile on her face. It was obvious that he was taken aback by the huge size of the place, which was already expected. Even she had taken a long time to get used to it.

After watching Issei for a while, she remembered Shinso's order to bring Issei to her as soon as he wakes up, so she quickly went to Issei's side.

"Issei-sama, Shinso-sama's waiting for us. You'll have time to look around the castle later on," She said as she looked at the cute, six-years-old boy.

Issei, still awestruck, only managed to give a slow nod. Seeing Issei's response, the maid motioned for him to follow her, to which Issei happy obliged. After walking for a couple of more minutes, they found themselves in front of two huge doors situated on the second floor.

"Here we are," She said as she shot Issei a small smile before she knocked on the door. Soon enough, a deep voice came from within. "Come on in."

She then nodded, opened the door and motioned for Issei to enter. After he entered, she followed after him, closing the door. She then stood by Issei's side as she looked respectfully at Shinso, who was on the other side of the room, sitting on a large chair with a book in his l.a.p.

Upon seeing Shinso, a dazzling smile took over Issei's face. He was, at the moment, the only person Issei actually knew in the entire world, since the other two had been killed off. Shinso also smiled after seeing Issei, although his smile wasn't as wide as his.

"Issei, have you slept well?" Shinso asked in a kind tone. It was also obvious that his personality underwent a huge transformation. When they were traveling back to the castle, Shinso exuded a mysterious and dark aura, but right now his aura was kind and noble. The difference was obvious.

Upon noticing the change in Shinso, Issei looked puzzled for a moment before ignoring it. He then shook his head, "Yep."

"That's good..." Shinso said as he looked at the little boy. He then directed his attention towards Sayla. "Sayla, can you please call everyone else here?" He asked kindly.

Sayla nodded, "Yes, Shinso-sama," And then bowed politely before exiting the room, leaving Issei and Shinso alone. After seeing that he was finally alone with Shinso, Issei decided to start asking questions.

"Shinso," Issei said as he approached Shinso, who remained sited on the chair.

"What, Issei?"

"Where are we?" Was the simple question Issei asked. In reality, he had many others, but decided to start with an easy one and then to begin asking the most complicated ones, such as who Sayla was, who Shinso was in reality and things like that.

Shinso simply chuckled at Issei's question, his kind gaze never faltering. "Good question. Well, to answer that, I should probably show you something first," Shinso said as he got the book out of his l.a.p, placed it on the table in front of him and got up from the chair. He then motioned for Issei to follow him as he walked deeper into the room.

After they reached the farthest part of the room, a window with closed curtains could be seen. Shinso then shot Issei a smile before opening the curtain, making a bright light enter the room.

"What..." Issei murmured as he looked out of the window. The scene in front of him was simply inconceivable. Right out of the window, in front of him, there was a huge city, beautiful, with people happily walking around, but that wasn't the unbelievable part. The unbelievable part was actually in the sky. Issei could actually see giant birds flying about, unlike anything he had ever seen.

"Surprised?" Shinso asked as he looked at the surprised expression on Issei's features. Issei nodded his head slowly, not even bothering to look at Shinso, before going silent.

"How?" Was his simple, one-word, question.

Seeing Issei's question, Issei decided to just explain everything to him in one go. "Okay, Issei, this may seem difficult to believe, but we are no longer in the place you call Earth."

Issei's eyes widened considerably. "No longer on Earth?" Issei asked slowly.

"Yes, we are no longer on earth. Well, to make things easier to understand, we are no longer in the Lower Realm," Shinso said slowly.

"Lower realm?"

Shinso nodded, "Yes, Lower Realm. You see, they are like dimensions that exist at the same time and place, but there isn't a physical connection between them... Well, the concept is a little hard to understand, but what's important is that there is a total of three realm- The Lower Realm, The Middle Realm, and the Higher Realm. Currently, we are in the Middle Realm."

"Middle realm?" Issei asked slowly, absorbing all the information he could into his brain.

"Yes, we are in the Middle Realm," Shinso said before continuing his earlier explanation. "As I was saying, there is a total of three realms. The first realm, the Lower Realm, is where normal humans, without special powers, reside, along with some other races, like lower-vampires, Devils, and Angels.

"In the Middle Realm, there is a huge difference. In here, Humans actually have two extra organs they are innately born with, something humans from the Lower Realm don't have. Those organs are the profound veins and the dantian.

"In short, you could say that the dantian is like the heart and the profound veins are like the veins and arteries. In fact, the profound veins are actually the same size as the arteries and veins and their positions are relatively close to one another. Now, the biggest difference is that while the heart pumps the blood trough the body and the arteries and veins make it travel through the body and bring it back to the heart, the dantian pumps another substance called spiritual power."

"For a lack of better words, spiritual power is, in short, the energy required for using martial skills. Martial skills are special abilities that humans from the Middle Realm can learn. They involve a large range of abilities, such as controlling the elements, strengthening the body, and various other things.

"Any race in this world can learn martial skills. They are usually recorded in scrolls, where information about how to use them is inscribed. They depict the process of how to use their powers, and the more you train in using them, the better you'll become. The stronger the skill, the higher the usage of spiritual power.

"Martial skills are divided into ranks. The higher the rank, the stronger the martial skill is. Most of the martial skills in this part of the country range from the second to the sixth rank. The most powerful one is probably of the 8th rank. Understanding everything so far?" Shinso took a pause from his long explanation to make sure that Issei could keep up with the torrent of information.

Issei immediately nodded. Although it was indeed a little too confusing, he figured that he could keep up with the explanation. In fact, he was mesmerized by the constant flow of information. Since young, he had always liked to discover new things, and what he was listening to at the moment gave him a feeling of bliss. The more he listened, the more he liked this new, mysterious world.

Seeing Issei's nod, Shinso continued his explanation, "Now, I should probably start talking about spiritual power." He began, "Spiritual power, as I said, are the source of energy from martial skills and they flow in the profound veins. They are like a sort of energy. All humans of the Middle Realm possess it, but most of them don't know how to cultivate it.

"Cultivating your spiritual power means to meditate and stimulate the speed that the spiritual power flows through your profound veins. That is done by meditating and concentrating on the flow of spiritual power. There are various different kind of cultivation methods, but the main ones consist of that.

"Every time the spiritual power does a complete cycle throughout your body, it will slightly increase. That's because every time it does a complete cycle, a part of the endless spiritual power existent on the atmosphere will be s.u.c.k.e.d into your body. Once the spiritual power reaches a certain amount, you will be able to make a breakthrough into the next level of spiritual power Cultivation."

"Breakthrough?" Issei once more interrupted Shinso's explanation, not managing to contain his surprise. It all kept getting more and more exciting. He was beginning to form an idea as to what this spiritual power was used for, and that made him even more excited, albeit a little disappointed for reasons only he knew.

"Yes, breakthrough," Shinso started. "I was just getting to that part. To begin explaining, I should probably explain the levels of cultivation.

"Well, to begin with, Cultivation is divided into various realms. They are the Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm, and, the last one is the Divine Profound Realm. Each Realm is further divided into ten levels.

"As I said before, every time the spiritual power increases to a certain amount, your cultivation will increase by one level, or in other words, make a breakthrough. After completing all the ten levels of the realm you're in, you'll be able to breakthrough to the following realm," Shinso then finished his explanation, and looked at Issei's face, searching for a reaction. As expected, his eyes shined with confusion.

"Hmm..." Issei began, confusion evident on his features. "I only have on question."

"What might it be?" Shinso asked with utmost patience. He had an idea of how difficult such a concept would be to someone who had been a slave not too long ago.

"Why tell me all this?" Was Issei's question, much to Shinso's surprise. Of all question he had expected, this was definitely not one of them.

"Huh?" Shinso asked, unsure of how to answer his question.

Issei then sighed, "What I mean is that there is a purpose in telling me all this, is it?" Issei began, his expression serious, much more serious than what a six-years-old could muster. In fact, it was as if all the childishness he had from before suddenly vanished, replaced by an earnest expression. "I'm from the Lower Realm. I don't have profound veins and the physical version of the dantian. I have no means of cultivating. In other words, telling me all of this right now is basically useless, isn't it?"

By the time Issei had finished explaining, Shinso was wide-eyed. From the start, Issei didn't really strike him as a smart and sharp child, but as a determined and stubborn one. Ever since the time that Shinso saw him to just a few moments ago, Issei had always acted accordingly to his age, but just now? The speech he gave, as well as that line of thought, was far from the normal of six-years-old. In fact, to be able to notice the fact that he was from the Lower Realm and didn't have means of cultivation while Shinso explained so many incredible things already proved just how advanced the Issei's mentality was.

Seeing this change of event, Shinso was first surprised but his surprise then turned into happiness. Happy that the kid he had chosen wasn't just stubborn and determined, but also unbelievably sharp. Shinso's slip curled upwards slightly as he looked at the child in front of him.

"Good question," Shinso began after recollecting his thoughts. "It's true. If you were just a normal human from the Lower Realm, telling you all of this right now wouldn't make much sense. It'd be better to gradually explain as time passed, since there would be no need for you to understand such things immediately," As he continued his explanation, his faint smile started turning more vivid, "But, it just so happens that you're not a normal human from the Lower Realm."

The instant that Shinso finished talking, Issei's eyes widened considerably. At the same time, happiness started to spring forth from withing him. He knew that with his last words just now, he had given him a hint, and if Issei had gotten it right, it would mean that Issei could cultivate spiritual power. Just from the prospect of that, Issei's mood brightened considerably. Throughout Shinso's whole explanation about martial skills and spiritual power, Issei's mood was divided between amazement and disappointment. Amazed at the world that he been brought in and disappointed at the fact that he wouldn't be able to truly be part of this amazing word, because of his lack of profound veins and dantian. But, now that Shinso had hinted that he had them, Issei was incomparably happy.

"Does this mean..." Issei began slowly, unable to hide his excitement. The previous disappointment that he had felt before was gradually beginning to vanish.

Seeing Issei's utterly excited expression, Shinso couldn't help but chuckle. "Yes, it's exactly that," Shinso began, causing Issei's mood to undergo a massive sky-rocketing. "You possess both profound veins and a physical dantian."

Faced with such a massive revelation, Issei was rendered speechless. Ever since he could remember, if he wasn't working or being hurt, he would be having fantasies about how his ideal life would be, and, in most occasions, it involved him being able to use magic. Although martial skills weren't exactly magic, from Shinso's explanations, it didn't seem far from how he imagined it would be, either.

"But..." Issei began, trying to organize his thoughts. "How is it possible?"

Sighing, Shinso looked at Issei with an earnest expression, "To be truthful with you, I'm not sure. The most probable possibly is that your parents were from the middle realm, and because of some circ.u.mstances, you ended up in the lower realm."

Issei then nodded at Shinso's explanation. Even before Shinso had begun explaining, he had already thought of such a possibility, but also wanted to know Shinso's opinion on the matter. At that moment, though, another question appeared on his mind.

"I have one more question," Issei began. "How come you know that I possess both profound veins and a physical dantian?"

At that moment, Shinso also smiled lightly, "During the travel to the castle, I cast some of my spiritual power into you in order to check for any internal injuries, and I also ended up finding out about that."

Nodding, Issei thought over Shinso's explanation. Although he hadn't said much, it had a much deeper meaning to it. It also meant that Shinso had taken Issei in while under the expression that he was just a normal human from the Lower Realm, not knowing that Issei possessed the capability to cultivate. This also meant that Shinso also chose Issei solely based on his personality, and not for other reasons. That also made Issei happy. There was also the possibility that Shinso might have been lying, but Issei didn't think that that was the case. He simply trusted Shinso by instinct.

Seeing that everything was already cleared, Shinso decided to add some more things before his servants arrived. "I just need to warn you of some things," Shinso began, catching Issei's undivided attention. "As far as most people from this realm is concerned, there is no Lower Realm or Higher Realm. Only people who are exceptionally powerful and possess a lot of knowledge know about the existence of the Lower Realm. In this entire continent, aside from my servants, the amount of people who know about the existence of the Lower Realm can be counted on one hand.

"As for the Higher Realm, it's much, much more mysterious. I only came to know about it by chance. I happened to be traveling through this continent when I came across a withered corpse. In his hands was a book. It depicted the existence of the Higher Realm, with a little knowledge about it. In short, the only thing it about it was that its inhabitants were almighty beings, named Gods. Aside from that, there wasn't much more information. At first, I was skeptical about it, but the more I read, the more convinced I became. When I finally finished reading the book, it burst into flames.

"I'm still not sure about its existence, but it surely seemed real. Either way, the amount of people on this entire planet that know about the Higher Realm should be an incredibly small number.

"So, what I mean to tell you is-"

Once again, Shinso was interrupted by Issei. "What you mean to tell me is that from now on, I should never reveal the fact that I'm from the Lower Realm and that I should never tell anyone about the possible existence of the Higher Realm, right?" Issei said, his smart personality back, a mysterious and sharp glint within his eyes.

Shinso looked at Issei in a little bit of shock before sighing. "Yes, that's exactly it."

Just as Shinso finished saying, the sound of someone knocking on the door could be heard.

"Shinso-sama? I have brought all of the servants as you ordered." Said a feminine voice, which Issei immediately recognized as Sayla's soft and pleasing to the ears voice.

Shinso then shot Issei a smile before saying, "Come in."

The doors then opened as eight servants walked in. Four of them were male and the other four females. They then walked up to the middle of the study room and bowed to Shinso and Issei.

"Raise your heads," Shinso said, a calm smile on his face. He then looked over to Issei. "These are my loyal servants. They all used to be powerful cultivators who, for different reasons, ended up in death-threatening situations. I then used my blood to save their lives and thus transforming them into vampires. They then decided to serve me as servants in order to thank me for saving them," Shinso explained. He then turned his attention back to them.

"I'm sure you must all be wondering who this young boy next to me is," He said as he motioned to Issei. "Due to some circ.u.mstances, I came across him on my way back and for some reasons I decided to take him in," He begun explaining, not giving out any specificity details whatsoever. "From now on, he is your Young Master."

Most of the servants revealed shocked expression, except for Sayla, who already knew the situation. They then turned to Issei and analyzed him, trying to sense something peculiar about the kid for Shinso to have taken interest in him and taken him in. Seeing nothing on the outer appearance, they then prepared to send their spiritual power into him to analyze him. Alas, were interrupted by Shinso.

"I know that you must all be wondering what's so special about him," Shinso began. "Well, it's nothing to do with talent or some special condition at all. I just took a liking to him," He explained.

Seeing that, the servants called off their spiritual power. Seeing that they're convinced, Shinso then began to prepare for the most important part of the day.

"Yen," He said, looking at one of the male servants. The man in question was of medium height, with short black hair that covered his left eye. His right eye was also black, just like his hair. His skin was also tanned, relatively swarthy.

"What, Shinso-sama?" The servant in question asked politely.

"Bring me a Profound System Testing Stone."

Yen was just about to nod before confusion appeared in his eyes. "Hmm... May I ask for what reason, Shinso-sama?"

"For him, of course," Shinso then answered as he motioned to Issei. At that moment all of the servant's eyes, including Sayla's widened.

"But, wasn't your quest in the Lower Realm? That means that you found him there. Is it possible that he has the Profound System?"

Shinso then sighed, "I never said that I picked him up in the Lower Realm. After coming back to the Middle Realm, I wandered around for a while before coming back to the castle, and while doing so, I found Issei," Shinso lied, but his face was so straight-forward and earnest that all servants, including Sayla, believed it.

Issei's then glistened as he listened to Shinso's explanation. If he was in Shinso's position, his excuse would have been the exact same, which showed how alike they were.

"Ah, if that's so, I'll be on my way," Yen then said politely as he excused himself and exited the room, leaving behind Shinso, Issei, and the seven other servants.

"In case he doesn't manage to find one, help him search for it," He ordered the remaining servants. They then bowed politely and left the room.

As soon as the left, Issei asked a question that had been on his mind, "What is a Profound System Testing Stone?"

"Oh..." Shinso said, once more remembering that there were still some things that he needed to explain to Issei about cultivation. "Well," He started, "The Profound System Testing Stone serves to determine what kind of Profound System you have. By the way, Profound System is a term that refers to the dantian and the profound veins.

"You see, not all Profound Systems are the same. They all have different shapes, cultivation speeds, affinities and various other things. The natural way to know what kind of Profound System you have is to reach the first level of the Nascent Profound Realm.

"Upon reaching it, a symbol will appear on your right hand. That symbol determines what kind of Profound System you have. After various years of research, cultivators gave each symbol a ranking, a name, and their characteristics.

"For example, the most common one is the Base Profound System, whose symbol looks similar to four circles intertwined together. It's also the weakest of all Profound System, with the lowest cultivation speed and no special properties. About sixty percent of the cultivator's population has them.

"Then there are various others, like the Ancient Profound System, the Mortal Profound System, the Speed Profound System, the Dark Profound System... In total, there are over a thousand Profound Systems. As I said, they are divided into ranks, them being: Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System. Obviously, they are in order of the weakest to the strongest.

"Also, the rarer the Profound System, the stronger it is, so it can be said that it's also in order of rarity. The rarest category is the Heavenly Ranked Profound System, and it only has two Profound System in it, them being the Heavenly Light Profound System and the Demonic Dark Profound System. In the entire continent, the number of people who possess them can be counted on two hands. Both of them have extremely high cultivation speeds, with various bonuses. They are considered peerless genius on the cultivation world.

"Though it must be said that Profound Systems aren't actually THAT important. You see, when one reaches the Sky Profound Realm, all of the advantages given by their Profound System disappears. In other words, it's actually only important up to the peak of the Earth Profound Realm.

"Finally, there is another way to find out what type of Profound System one possesses. It's used on cultivators who have yet to reach the Nascent Profound Realm. It's the Profound System Testing Stone. It's a simple process in reality.

"All the person needs to do to determine their Profound System is to hold it the stone with their right hand for five minutes. During those five minutes, the stone will send a special kind of spiritual power to your body and determine your Profound System. Then, the symbol which determines your Profound System will appear on the stone."

"Ah..." Issei muttered quietly as he organized his thoughts. He figured that the more time he spent on this place, the more complicated and interesting it became. Thankfully, Issei was gifted with an extremely shrewd and sharp mind, so he could keep up with the constant torrent of information without getting tangled or confused.

"I wonder what type I have..." He muttered quietly. To Issei, this new information made him extremely curious as to what type of Profound System he had. Obviously, he was hoping with all his heart that it wasn't the Base Profound System. He wanted to make Shinso proud of him, so he was hoping for something at least Special Ranked.

Seeing Issei's expression, Shinso chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm sure that it'll be a great one!" He exclaimed happily with a bit of laughing. "Either way, I suppose I should tell you that, in this province, if you have a Medium Ranked Profound System, you should already be happy. Here, people who have them are already considered geniuses," Shinso explained.

"I see..." Issei muttered, with an understanding expression, although his d.e.s.i.r.e stayed the same. Nevertheless, he still hoped for at least a Special Ranked Profound System. Suddenly, his expression changed to one of confusion as he realized something that Shinso had said.

"Hmm..." Issei said, trying to remember the right word, "You said "in this Province", right?" Issei asked, "Does this mean that we are in some sort of Province?"

Hearing Issei's question, Shinso once again remembered that there was still much more to tell Issei. Sighing, he began explaining, "Sorry, I forgot to tell you about that," He began, an embarrassed look on his face, "The continent we are in is called the Profound Sky Continent. It is then divided into various countries and one of them is the Country of the Nine Provinces, the one we are in. Out of all the countries, the Country of the Nine Provinces is the only one that isn't part of the Profound Sky Alliance. This alliance is led by the Divine Phoenix Country, the strongest of all the other countries. These countries are all connected by land, but the only one who has a frontier with the Country of the Nine Provinces is the Blue Wind Country.

"The ruler of the Country of the Nine Provinces is the Jiang Dynasty, while the ruler of the Blue Wind Country is the Imperial Family. Each country has their own Imperial Family which leads them while the Country of the Nine Provinces is the only one that is led by a dynasty instead of an Imperial Family.

"We are located in the Azure Province, one of the only ones that share a border with the Blue Wind Country. We are also known as the weakest out of all the other nine provinces. Finally, the city we are in is called the Azure Tiger City, and I'm its mayor," Shinso explained while putting on a prideful tone when he said that he was the mayor.

Issei also paid close attention to all of Shinso's words, and when he said the last sentence, he couldn't help but be surprised, "You are the mayor of this city?" He asked, unsure if had heard it correctly.

"Yes, surprised?" Shinso asked, a knowing smirk on his handsome features.

"Yes..." Issei muttered, before explaining his motives, "If you are the mayor of the city, why go travel to the Lower Realm? Don't you have enough work here already?"

Once more, Shinso's eyes widened. He still didn't get used to the advanced line of thought that Issei had. He then sighed, trying to get himself to get used to it, "Well, you see, the reason why I travel to the Lower Realm for quests is quite simple, really," He began, "It's mainly because of a promise I had made long ago."

"Huh?" Issei said as he tilted his head to the side.

"A long time ago, I was traveling around the Lower Realm. There, I made a friend. He used to hunt those who committed evil sins there, and I found him by the occasion. Coincidentally, his name was also Shinso and he was a vampire, like me. The main difference between us is the fact that Vampires of the Lower Realm obviously can't cultivate, and thus they are infinitely weaker than Vampires from the Middle Realm.

"One day, when I went to the Lower Realm, I found him on the verge of death. His last wish was for me to take his name and to continue hunting the evil people from the Lower Realm. From that moment on, I started to occasionally travel to the Lower Realm in order to hunt those people, accepting requests as a bounty hunter," Shinso finished explaining.

"Ah..." Issei muttered, understanding what had happened. So the reason why Shinso went to the Lower Realm was because of a friend, huh? It made sense.

"Either way, that isn't the focus right now," He interrupted Issei's line of thought as he walked back to his chair, grabbing his book from the table, "For now, let's just wait for them to bring the Profound System Testing Stone for us so we can find out what kind of Profound System you have," He finished as he started reading his book.

Seeing that Shinso had stopped talking, Issei looked around, trying to find something to do before settling on reading a book. He then walked over to one of the shelves and randomly grabbed one of the books from it. After opening, he found out with happiness that the language used in writing was the same from what he was used to in the Lower Realm.

Normally, Slaves wouldn't be able to read, but Issei was an exception. Every time his previous Young Master was having classes about reading, writing, and mathematics, Issei would always be in the same room, bringing his young master and the teacher whatever they asked for. Because of that, he was able to listen to most of the classes and to learn how to read, a little of writing and the basics of mathematics.

Obviously, if he had the intelligence of a normal child, he would never be able to learn such things from second-hand while doing chores, but as shown before countless times, Issei was special. He was impossibly smart and was able to absorb information quickly. Also, every time he had free time, he would practice reading, writing, and math, so that helped him greatly.

As Issei began to read the book, he noticed that although he could read it, he had some difficulties. There were various words that he didn't know, and he was only able to read by guessing what they meant based on the context. From what he could tell, the book was a tale of a hero of sorts.

After a while, the door to the study opened, and all the eight servants walked inside. Yen was carrying a medium-sized strange looking black stone in his hands. All around the black stone, golden markings could be seen.

As soon as Shinso saw the strange looking black stone he stood up and motioned for Issei to do the same. After closing his book, he also stood up and walked to Shinso's side.

"Thank you, Yen," Shinso said as he picked up the black stone from Yen's hand and handed it to Issei. "Now, Issei, you'll feel a little uncomfortable at first, as if ants were walking on your skin, but just ignore it, okay?"

Issei quietly nodded, looking at the black stone in his hands. After seeing his nod, Shinso placed his hand on top of the black stone and channeled some of his spiritual power into it, activated it. Sending Issei a smile, he said, "It's activating now."

Once more nodding, Issei focused his attention on the stone. Soon, he could feel something coming out of the stone. It was also at that moment that he felt as if something was crawling on top and beneath his skin. It was a rather unconformable feeling, but it was also light, so it wasn't something that Issei couldn't handle.

After a short moment, the stone started to shine with a beautiful white glow. At first, the glow was weak, but it soon became stronger and stronger. It soon reached the point that it was difficult to look at. Seeing that, Issei could only stare in shock as the glow kept getting stronger.

Just when it seemed that the glow couldn't get any stronger, the previous white glow turned pitch-black. It was also at that moment that wind began to build around Issei, like a little hurricane that encircled only him, making his clothes sway violently. It then became stronger and stronger to the point that he was having difficulty staying in place. Shinso and the other servants were also staring in shock.

"What..." Shinso muttered, shock written all over his handsome features. The servants all around him were muttering similar things with also similar expressions.

Issei, on the other hand, was the most shocked of all. He could feel a crushing pressure upon him, forcing him to his knees. At that moment, the wind reached it's top speed, slashing against Issei's large shirt, creating countless holes in it. It then began to cut his own skin, drawing out blood. The moment the blood was mixed in the wind, the previous colorless wind turned pitch-black.

From the outside, all everyone could see was a pitch-black wind the surrounded Issei, making it impossible for anyone to see him.

When Shinso noticed that, he was about to take a step forward when the dark wind started converging into a point of the black hurricane. It soon began to swirl around in a funnel as they permeated into the stone in Issei's hand. When it was all absorbed by the stone, what appeared before their eyes was a painting Issei clad in torn clothes with cuts all over his body holding a pitch-black stone, the markings around it had disappeared.

When Shinso looked at the stone, his eyes widened even further. He had seen all kinds of things happening when a stone determined the type of Spirit System that a person had, but never before had he seen such reaction. Even when he witnessed the stone reveal a Heavenly Ranked Profound System mark, the reaction was only a little of light, not comparable to Issei's in any way. Also, there was no wind whatsoever.

As he stared in shock at the stone, a dark light emanated from it, even darker that the pitch-black color of the stone, making it possible to discern its shape. The dark light soon traveled around the stone, making an extremely complicated shape.

At the center, there was a circle that was surrounded by archaic symbols, which were then encircled by even more complicated markings that gave birth to two parallel sickle-looking blades that came out from both sides, each with archaic-looking symbols on its borders. Those blade-shaped markings each had a smaller blade-shaped marking at the top that resembled a scimitar. Between the two large blade markings and above the circle was what appeared to be a gem shaped marking, also covered in archaic symbols.

Around the entire marking where flame-like marking around it, giving off a majestic figure all-together. When Shinso saw that marking, it was as if he had stopped breathing. He instantly dashed to one of the shelves, grabbed a worn-out and ancient book and opened it on its last page. On it was a magic seal that made it unable to see what was written, but Shinso quickly unleashed it.

When he saw what was on the page, he looked once more at the symbol on the stone and then at the page again. When he did that, the book fell from his hands, his eyes filled with astonishment, and even fear.

"... Even though... there are some differences..." He muttered weakly, "It's definitely it..." He said, his breath growing more and more ragged by the second. At the end, he screamed, "It's the Grim Reaper's Symbol!"