DXD: Catalyst of Legends

It took Azazel and two of his most trusted associates to subdue me.

"When I came to, Azazel explained everything to me; Sacred Gears, Balance Breakers, the Great War, the Armistice, everything. Then he got me and my friends, the ones who survived, into an institute within the Grigori and trained us up to be special operatives under the code name Slash/Dog.

In summary: I owe my life and my friends' lives to them. "

"I see… For what's it's worth, I'm sorry you had to go through that. " To Connor, the idea of seeing people you knew get turned into experimental fodder was horrifying.

Just because you had to look out for yourself as a magus didn't mean you had to be heartless doing it. At least, he thought so.

"Thanks. So, what about you? What's your story?"

"You said you wouldn't ask family secrets. "

"I'm not. I'm asking for your story.

Your personal story. How'd you end up here, halfway around the world? Why go and not stay home?"

"There's not much to tell. I'm just a simple magus, trying to move up in the world.

"

"No simple magus kills a Fallen Angel the way you did. Indulge me.

"

Both men stayed silent for a moment as Connor contemplated his answer.

"I guess you could say I'm on vacation. Or, I was.

"

Tobio's eyebrow quirked.

"My grandpa was a kid by the time World War II started up, and with Ireland staying largely neutral throughout the war, that left him with a lot of time to read and learn. He always told me that distant relatives took an interest in him and taught him the basics, and he built himself up from there.

He never called them anything other than 'distant relatives,' so as to keep their secrets safe. Most of what I know about magecraft came from him.

"

"What about your father?"

"My dad was the second-born in the family, so he wasn't allowed to learn magecraft. It's a common practice in magi families for the first-born to get the special treatment, and that went to my uncle.

" Connor paused and shook his head. "But then, he and his pregnant wife were killed in a massive car pileup almost fifteen years ago.

Since it was way too late at that point for my dad to be instated as a new heir, Grandpa instead chose four-year-old me. "

"You were forced into it? Did your father not try to stop it?" Tobio asked curiously.

"There wasn't much he could do. He was kept completely in the dark about magecraft growing up, and he was worried of what my grandfather would do if he didn't comply with letting me learn it.

And I wouldn't say that I was forced into it, just enticed. Grandpa made it sound so alluring and amazing.

It took me a while to see how that was mostly a matter of perspective. "

Following the death of his eldest son, Donovan was desperate to not lose his life's work, and threw everything he had into completely rebuilding the Magic Crest to where Connor's body could adapt to it in a span of four years. In that haste, however, he hadn't done everything he should have to prepare his grandson for the life ahead of him, and had died before that problem could be properly corrected.

'Dying from overwork is a pretty sorry way to go. '

"Then, with all that, why did you end up going to Japan of all places?"

"The scenery?" the magus lightly offered before his gaze went down to his hands. "I don't know, I… I guess I just needed some time away from it all.

Just for a little bit; a year or two, nothing more… I wanted to study something else for a while, you know?"

Connor was fully aware that a mindset like his made him a disgraceful aberrant in the eyes of more traditional magi, a coward unwilling to take whatever steps necessary to reach the Root, but he didn't care. Fuck that noise, he was taught to be a magus, not raised as one.

He wasn't going to pawn off his soul or the world itself just for a tiny glimpse of the Root, not that he'd ever actually get it or live long enough to brag to anyone that he pulled it off.

Ultimate knowledge of all phenomena across the universe was fundamentally impossible for mortal man to achieve, and the vacuous pursuit of it was a pointless venture. From his standpoint, it was like falling in a bottomless pit; unable to reach the desired end, but also unable to return after failing, with one's only companion being their own unending despair.

He simply chose not to jump.

"I suppose… and what about those eyes? Those green ones you looked at me with back at the park?"

"Genetic mutation. And they're not green, it's a trick of the light.

No one else in the family had them, so that's really all I can say. " Connor's answer was quick but even.

Tobio didn't look convinced.

He and Connor didn't get much farther with their discussion before 'Oyaji' presented their orders. Two ceramic platters of deep-fried chicken chunks seated on a few leaves of lettuce with a lemon wedge on the side.

"There you go. "

"Thanks, 'Oyaji. '"

"Yeah, yeah," the old man waved as he moved on to other orders.

"As enlightening as this has been for the both of us, I think we need to get to business," Connor began. "First off, what are Sacred Gears? You know more about them than I do, so…"

"Itadakimasu. " Tobio gave thanks for the meal before beginning his explanation.

"Fair enough. Sacred Gears are special artifacts created by the God of the Bible in order to enact miracles on Earth.

They're linked to a human's soul upon birth, and only humans or hybrids of humans have ever been born with them, but they can carry over if a human gets reincarnated into a Devil. It's believed that some of history's most prominent figures were likely wielders of Sacred Gears that never truly manifested.