Saiki's mind became crystal clear a few hours later.
In fact, he had been worrying for nothing.
Dragons.
That was the existence of powerful beings in the world he lived in.
And now, in a way, he had become one of them.
He didn't need to overcomplicate things.
He just needed to imply that he possessed a draconic lineage.
It wasn't something completely inconceivable in that world. After all, there were beings capable of inheriting powers from dragons, and even Devils could possess abilities related to these creatures.
Furthermore, a dragon's power, even if no one recognized its true origin, would be a reasonable explanation for the abnormal growth of his abilities.
'Now that I think about it calmly, I was overthinking things.'
He gave an ironic smile.
No matter how desperate a situation was, he should have analyzed everything more calmly.
Although a draconic lineage could considerably increase his value in the eyes of certain people, it still couldn't compare to the value of the orbs or the "The Gamer" system.
After all, possessing extraordinary power was one thing.
Having access to something capable of turning the impossible itself into reality was something else entirely. As well as sharing part of his power, making them stronger through the orbs.
'I'm still planning to create a concealment skill, but... I'll make them think I'm a half-dragon who has just awakened. Now, as for how to do that, I haven't thought about it yet. It would be nice if someone not too strong attacked me with someone as a witness, but something that convenient isn't going to happen, right?'
This also served as a reminder to him. Although his previous concern had been valid, he should have thought things through calmly before letting his mind run wild and ending up doing something one day that he would regret later.
==
==
'As expected, someone's following me.'
As soon as the bell rang, Saiki packed his things and said goodbye to Manaka and the rest at the school's exit gate.
After walking for quite a while, he caught the scent of a cat... Or rather, a catgirl following him.
'Should I pretend I haven't noticed her and go to a forest and simply use my dragon powers?'
A bit forced, but it could serve as an alibi to justify the increase in his powers.
There was nothing he could do. Although his luck was absurdly high, it wasn't as if someone would fall from the sky and...
'A barrier?'
Saiki stopped walking.
The sky became surrounded by a dark blue and purple barrier that seemed to be made of a suspicious substance.
"What a coincidence to find someone with such an unusual energy. What are you, a Devil? No, that's wrong. You don't look like an exorcist either, so what are you?"
Like in a classic movie scene, full of poses and swagger, deliberately farming aura, a man dressed entirely in black with a top hat emerged from the darkness, speaking.
He didn't fear retaliation. As a fallen angel from a small group working against their leader's orders, even if he died here, he didn't need to worry about someone like Azazel coming after him.
'Should I kill him, or just scare him?'
"Whatever you are, the fact that I've found you is your bad luck."
'Actually, maybe I shouldn't go to extremes. After all, him being killed by Rias isn't the same as me, who has no backing...'
"Hey, are you listening, you bastard?"
"Oh, yes, I am, I am." Saiki interrupted his thoughts, looking into the eyes of the man in front of him. "You were saying something about bad luck, right? Actually, I'm pretty lucky."
"Lucky, huh?" Dohnaseek let out a cold chuckle.
Then, a blue spear of light was created by him.
'Who are you trying to intimidate with that?'
Saiki shook his head, dropping his backpack to the ground, then muttered, "Third Transformation: Sacred Dragon Form Activate..."
Boom!
Soon, the sounds of cracking bones echoed.
Then, to Dohnaseek's horror, a 47-meter-long dragon appeared.
His enormous head with black horns curved backward was right next to him. The mere air that came out of his nostrils pushed Dohnaseek backward.
"Did you say something about exterminating me?" Saiki's now golden eyes fixed on him.
Dohnaseek felt as if he were an ant standing before him.
Gulp
"I-I never said anything like that..."
"Really?" Saiki's sarcastic voice made Dohnaseek feel no anger, but rather, even more fear.
He took a few steps backward involuntarily. Even his spear of light dissipated.
Opening his mouth, Saiki fired an incredibly powerful beam of light.
Dohnaseek turned around, a pair of black feathered wings appeared, and he began to fly.
The beam of light struck his left arm, severing it.
Even so, Dohnaseek never stopped, fleeing as fast as he could, wishing he had eight more pairs of wings.
Fortunately for him, no other attacks were launched. He didn't care, nor did he bother looking back, continuing to flee.
When he disappeared from sight, Saiki returned to his human form. That was also when the barrier created earlier disappeared.
Actually, he had another reason for not killing Dohnaseek. He had an audience. If he killed this guy, things would get more complicated. Not because of the fallen angels themselves, but because of the drops.
'Well, although it's a shame to lose such a juicy drop, it served my purpose, so I guess it's fine.'
He found himself thinking. If he killed a fallen angel, a skill book would drop. And if one did drop, would it be something related to wings, or perhaps the creation of spears of light?
'Forget it. There's no point trying to guess that now.' Saiki picked up his backpack from the ground and resumed walking home.
Almost reaching his apartment, the scent of the 'catgirl' who had been following him disappeared.
'Finally decided to stop following me.'
All he needed now was for her to report what she had seen to Rias.