DxD: Gambling With Fate

"Have you heard?" Lavinia asked Noa while they were eating dinner a few months after the Holy Sword Compatibility Selection Festival, actually eating decent food. Well, at least good food for the times at least.

Thankfully, Dulio's complaint had gone through, and their slop was replaced with food with much more flavor.

"...What? And where are you even getting this information?" Noa asked Lavinia. Wasn't the tutors not supposed to be discussing personal information to them?

"I heard it from my Magic Tutor. She's kind of talkative when you start complimenting her. She said that after I master Short Range Teleportation there's a high chance we'll go on a field exercise outside of the Church." Now that they left the Institute of Virtue for the Festival, getting even a small taste of outside Lavinia wanted to leave the Training Institute and see more of the world.

Having stayed in the same building for 6 Months for a child like Lavinia would obviously feel like a prison. Noa, being a natural homebody, didn't particularly feel anything different.

However, Dulio had the same sentiments as Lavinia, even moreso as he had now been here for 2 years, only leaving for the Festival. "Really?" Dulio had fallen into a more relaxed routine after the addition of Noa and Lavinia.

With expectations spread amongst the three of them, he had less pressure to be as good as the higher ups expected him to be when he was first brought into the Church. While his purpose for the past year and a half suddenly changed, the more he interacted with Noa, the less he started to care about trying to be better than Noa.

Dulio couldn't even beat Noa when Noa was just using his Incinerate Anthem. While the matches got closer and closer, Dulio attributed that closing gap solely due to the limitations of Noa's Sacred Gear.

The fact that Noa's Incinerate Anthem was overpowering Zenith Tempest in general was something that was wrong. In terms of physical ability, Dulio was behind, and Dulio could tell that Noa had much more power hidden than just his movement and his Excalibur.

While Dulio was more socially adept and was decent in his education, it felt like Noa wasn't taking any of that seriously at all.

Noa's unserious demeanor didn't assist with that train of thought either.

While Lavinia knew from the beginning that Noa was stronger than she could ever be, resulting in a thinking of just wanting to support him as something similar to equals or supporting Noa's weaknesses, Dulio had the original thought before the spars that he was supposed to be superior solely due to the difference in weaponry.

Well, while it seemed like Noa had an unchanging unserious demeanor sometimes, there were moments of sudden sadness, like what happened last month. While Dulio and Lavinia were concerned, Noa said it wasn't anything serious.

Well, Dulio remembered that night Noa brought out both himself and Lavinia who were in their own rooms for some snacks that somehow appeared. Those were pretty good though.

Let's go back a month.

--+-- 

Noa had taken the opportunity to save up 50 Free Pulls to get a Specialized Character and after some thinking, decided that the most overpowered thing he could probably obtain from the Fate Universe was True Magic.

So, with his limited knowledge of the Fate Universe, reduced the possible candidates to Zelretch, Justeaze, and Aoko. He hadn't actually known much about them, but he was curious about them after reading some fanfiction so he was aware of their existences. Well, he knew there was a wielder of First Magic but forgot their name. Started with a Y, at the very least.

After deciding on Zelretch, he had invested his 50 Free Pulls, but what returned was [Blueprints of the Jeweled Sword Zelretch - EX Rank]. While he was originally excited at the EX Rank, as it was only the blueprints, Noa had absolutely no idea where to start. After looking at the blueprint for about a day and making zero progress, he gave up.

The blueprint itself being EX Rank meant that the Sword was absolutely broken, but with no knowledge of Jewel Magecraft and even the Second Magic, Noa was stumped.

Unfortunately, developing the Jeweled Sword Zelretch was a long term project, if it ever was completed.

That was the main reason behind Noa's sadness that day. He had 250 Points saved up for the Stat Point and Craft Essence Pulls, meaning he could pull 25 times to make up for that disappointment by deciding to use all 25 Pulls.

Who cared if most of the Craft Essences were useless? He needed to get at least 50 Stats to get the full benefits of the stat boost from Protection of the Faith.

So while laying down on his bed that day, started pulling.

[Stat Point (Small) - +0.1 Agility]

Next.

[Craft Essence - Mark of the Heavenly Meteor]

With no one around, Noa could take the time to look at what he got from the pull, which in this case was a Horseshoe. After inspecting it and knocking on it to make sure it wasn't fake metal, into the inventory it went.

Next.

[Stat Point (Small) - +0.1 Agility]

…Next.

[Stat Point (Large) - +10 Strength]

That was pretty good. Next.

[Craft Essence - You can be a Dragon Too! Set]

A plastic bag appeared, and Noa quickly catched it. Inspecting the packaging, there was Siegfried on the package. Next to it was a small drawing of what the product entailed. A horn headband, a wing backpack, and an attachable dragon tail.

…Hmm.

With how much God hated Dragons, it'd be pretty funny if he gifted the outfit to him. The Craft Essence was probably from Siegfried, seeing as he was on the damn package.

Now this is the appeal of gambling. Even if it's random shit like this, it's pretty interesting and fun.

Next.

[Craft Essence - Heroic Spirit Dream Portrait: Charlotte Corday]

A picture of a brown haired blue eyed woman in a yukata. The name was unfamiliar, but she looked pretty cute. Much better than Billy the Kid. 

Next.

[Craft Essence - Craft Essence EXP Card: S Bunyan Advent]

Another picture frame appeared, but with the FGO April Fools style art. While all the characters here were completely unfamiliar, they looked pretty cute. 

Next.

[Craft Essence - Sweet-Toothed Sparrow's Wansanbon]

A tray of a Japanese tea kettle, cup, and a plate of what looked like sparrow shaped sweets materialized, with one large sweet that looked like a building. Since the cup was already filled with a liquid, probably tea, Noa took a small sip and frowned.

Matcha.

While he knew that some people liked the taste of matcha, Noa personally thought it tasted like grass. But the actual tray and plates were pretty, and he'd leave the sweets for Lavinia and Dulio. Now that he thought about it, it'd been a while since he'd actually pulled Craft Essences, so it had been a while since Lavinia was able to eat sweets.

Maybe Dulio would appreciate the sweets as well. 

Next.

[Stat Point (Small) - +0.1 Agility]

…While getting Agility and stats was something to celebrate, it felt like all he was getting was a little bit of Agility each time.

Next.

[Craft Essence - My First Gift]

A beige jacket along with a hairpin made of gold with emerald inlays appeared in his hands.

Noa held it up. The Aztec-Esque snake meant it was probably from a servant from that area. Noa really only remembered Quetzalcoatl. Who was it from?

[Kukulkan.]

…Yep, he had no idea who that was. But Noa did like the design, even if it didn't really fit his style. Not that he even had a style. All he really wore was the Church training garb recently. But it was still pretty nice.

Next.

[Stat Point (Medium) - +1 Endurance]

That was good. So far, his highest stats were Strength and Agility. Luck was so much of an outlier that it felt weird to include.

Next.

[3 Magic Circuits of C Rank Quality - +3.00 Mana]

Ah fuck.

…Wait. The pain wasn't actually that bad…?

[Protection of the Faith has Increased Pain Resistance]

Oh yeah.

Next.

[Craft Essence - Extremely Spicy Mapo Tofu]

Instead of what Noa had expected, which was just a plate of Mapo Tofu, an entire mini table with Mapo Tofu materialized, along with a blue and white tea set.

Noa caught it, before setting it down.

"So this is the fabled Kotomine Kirei's favorite Mapo Tofu…"

Noa held up the plate and inspected the meal. The sauce was blood red, and emanated pure spice.

Noa took a sniff of the Mapo Tofu and teared up, like he had taken a sniff of smelling salts, recoiling. What the fuck?!

[Protection of the Faith generates [Spice Resistance]]

It's that fucking spicy?!

Noa inspected it once more. Since he had Spice Resistance, maybe it wouldn't be that spicy…? He took the spoon and took a bite.

A burst of flavor appeared in his mouth. Even with Spice Resistance there was still a lingering feeling of spice in his mouth. How the fuck was this even possible?

Noa winced at the spice that transcended God's Blessing. However, even despite the spice, it tasted so fucking heavenly that he couldn't stop, taking more bites, ignoring the warm tea that came with the Mapo Tofu.

Even after Noa completed the Extremely Spicy Mapo Tofu, there was a lingering spice in his mouth, and Noa used his breathing technique to try and get rid of the spice.

Damn that tasted fire…

Noa looked at the cleared plate with a wistful expression. Maybe Kotomine Kirei had good taste after all…

Next.

[Craft Essence - Commentarii de Bello Gallico]

A book materialized.

Noa inspected the book. Even though the title was in latin, Noa could tell what it said due to Noah's Physique. Commentaries on the Gallic War…hmm. Noa wasn't much for history.

Into the inventory it went.

Next.

[Craft Essence - Heroic Spirit Event Attire: Draco]

A light blue dress appeared, with a blue ribbon to match. It was accompanied with a small green bear shaped purse with a black fluff ball of a charm.

Noa inspected the dress, but there seemed to be a large hole in the back of the dress, like there was something that was supposed to go there.

[Draco has a tail.]

…That made sense. It seems this'll be useless. Into the inventory!

Next.

[Craft Essence - Bitter Pitch Black]

A chocolate heart that was as tall as Noa's waist appeared. Stabbed into it was a familiar spear.

…Is that fucking Gae Bolg?

Inspecting the name on the chocolate heart, the name Scathach was written. Well, that made sense.

Noa removed the spear that was stabbed into the large chocolate heart. Is this the actual Noble Phantasm of Scathach or just a replica…? If he remembered correctly Scathach had two of these spears.

[Gae Bolg Alternative (Soaring Spear That Strikes with Death) - B+ Rank]

Oh damn it was the actual Noble Phantasm…

What does 'Soaring Spear That Strikes with Death' mean?

[It doesn't aim for the heart. It's the Anti-Army Variant]

…Oh damn. So it was like that one large strike that Lancer shot at EMIYA which he blocked with Rho Aias?

[Yes.]

Well, that wasn't bad in any way. If this could destroy 6 of Rho Aias' petals then it was a good spear. Possibly the best throwable weapon he had now. But damn was it tall as fuck.

Noa tried to hold it up straight but it was taller than the ceiling in his room. God damn.

Well, he got an unexpected boon from what he expected to just be a replica. Thank you Scathach. Noa gave a small bow to the chocolate heart that had Scathach written on it.

Noa kind of wondered if Scathach also existed in DxD, because wasn't she supposed to be alive in the Land of Shadows right now…?

…Well even if she was there was no chance of her leaving, so no need to worry about it, right? But if the Underworld also included the Land of Shadows, Dun Scaith… well, there wasn't any reason for Noa to ever go to the Underworld anyways!

Next.

[Craft Essence - Maxim de Chevalier]

A small silver container appeared, with 6 small pieces of heart shaped chocolate inside. Two Valentine's Day chocolates… It was kind of ironic that his first ever Valentine's Day chocolates came from a Gacha…

If he wasn't mistaken it was Japanese culture for women to give it to men so maybe it wasn't his fault as an American…

Next.

[Craft Essence - Jewel Bride]

A snow globe as large as Noa's head appeared in his hands. While the weight was negligible, it still surprised him. Noa looked through the glass of the snow globe to see a figurine of Bride Nero.

It's the umu girl!

Noa made sure that the girl didn't start moving. After verifying that it was static, Noa inspected the inside of the snow globe, where it looked like Nero was trapped inside, with a small cake and candles inside.

The craftsmanship was truly exquisite.

Nero was one of his favorite characters from Fate.

After shaking it around a little more, Noa put it into his inventory. If he ever bought a house, maybe he would put up all these trinkets that he got from this Gacha someday.

Next.

[Craft Essence - Heroic Spirit Tour: Artoria Caster]

A picture frame materialized in Noa's hands.

Well, the face was pretty recognizable. Despite not going all the way to the British Lostbelt, he had read up on the characters at the very least, not only that, he was pretty knowledgeable about a majority of the Saberfaces. Why, you ask? …Don't ask.

Well, at least he had a photo of Castoria.

Next.

[Stat Point (Small) - +0.1 Durability]

Finally a Stat Point.

It was Durability as well, which was his lowest stat for now.

Next.

[Stat Point (Small) - +0.1 Strength]

Pretty good. His main purpose in doing these pulls was mainly for stats too, so the more stat points the better.

Next.

[Stat Point (Small) - +0.1 Strength]

Next.

[Stat Point (Medium) - +1 Agility]

Nice… well with Furthest Earth this stat was pretty useless in real world applications, but during sparring, sure.

Next.

[Craft Essence - Angel's Song]

Another picture frame materialized in Noa's hands.

First it was Castoria, now it was Irisviel.

Well, best Einzbern hands down, so it wasn't anything unsatisfying other than being just a photo. If he hung up all these photos on the wall and Dulio walked in confused, it'd be pretty funny…

How many more points does he even have left?

[20.]

Oh so 2 more pulls… That was less than he had expected.

Next.

[Craft Essence - Heroic Spirit Tour: Yang Guifei]

Once again, a picture frame materialized in Noa's hands.

The name was unfamiliar but the woman in the photo looked pretty hot… was that the fucking Great Wall of China in the background?

[Yes.]

Oh so that was what it meant by 'Heroic Spirit Tour'... that made so much more sense. Noa took out Castoria's Heroic Spirit Tour and looked at the background.

Now where the hell was this?

[Hohensalzburg Fortress, Salzburg.]

Damn, Noa had no idea where the fuck that was. 

[Austria.]

Ah… the originator of the Austrian Painter. Maybe he'd get the chance to visit it during his future missions.

Noa put both picture frames into his Inventory.

Last one.

[Craft Essence - Holy Night Dinner]

A picture frame materialized in Noa's hands.

Damn, another fucking picture frame? Noa swore to god he had like 5 of those already… Holy shit. Was that his queen Jalter?

…That was actually Jalter.

Let's fucking go!

This was truly a work of art!

With no idea if Kinoko Nasu even existed in this universe, this picture might be the only drawing of Jeanne Alter in this world!

While Noa was a little disappointed that he didn't get as much stat increases as he expected, most of the photos were pretty recognizable along with the Nero Snow Globe!

Also, the unexpected boon of Gae Bolg Alternative wasn't anything to scoff at either. Noa hadn't expected a Noble Phantasm to come out of a Craft Essence. The Mapo Tofu was also pretty good. While the food that the Church served now was leagues better than it was previously, they didn't serve spicy food, which was unfortunate.

It had been a while since Noa had been able to eat spicy food too…

Damn he wanted another bite, he should have saved some.

Well, with his newly acquired snacks, might as well eat it with his friends. Not the unrealistic table sized Scathach chocolate, but the Wansanbon was fair game.

--+--

A/N: This is a hell of a filler but if some people were curious about some of the pulls, here you go. I was busy so couldn't really think of a good transition to the new arc. Actual plot starting tomorrow.

Also, Noa's theory about Scathach being in the underworld? It's true. Since Scathach isn't actually in DxD, it's the Fate appearance. No idea if they're ever going to meet though. By the way, every character that probably has a fate counterpart like Ereshkigal also looks like the one in Fate. Can't be bothered to make appearances up.

--+--

New Powerstone Goals starting this week.

2500 PS - Extra Chap

3500 PS - Extra Chap

4500 PS - Extra Chap

Max is 3 extra chaps a week. My parents don't mind me writing, but they kind of want me to make money, so I'm going to 'try' and set up a patreon soon, and I need time to fill that shit up.

Do people really buy patreons though?

Extra chapters will be released the day after the goal is reached, from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM KST cause that's when I'm free. They'll also be generally shorter than normal chapters.

Normal Chapters will be released every day during the times from 8:00 PM to 2:00 AM KST cause I normally get inspo throughout the day.

Also, comments, powerstones, and reviews are always appreciated.