In the middle of summer night, the orphanage director heard a knocking on the front door.
'There is someone at this hour?' She frowned as she slid her feet into slippers, walked towards the entrance and opened the door slightly.
"Hello?" She asked, but there was no one. 'Strange. Is this a prank?'
When she was about to close, she finally noticed a basket with a baby who was wide awake, but strangely calm.
"Oh dear!" She hurriedly opened the door completely and brought the basket inside.
"Ashern Crowley?" The director read the name in the tag that was attached. Then she picked up the baby and looked him in the eyes.
'Black hair and golden eyes, what a unique combination.' She thought as she examined him. 'And no anomalies either.'
"So from now on, your name will be Ashern Crowley." The orphanage director poked baby Ashern's nose and was about to put him back in the basket while she was preparing a bed for him, but she saw something in it that was reflecting the light.
Upon closer inspection, the orphanage director saw a golden ring with a thin silver chain attached to it like a necklace.
For some strange reason, as if she was hypnotised, any thoughts of keeping or selling the ring were immediately discarded, instead she had an impulse to make sure Ashern had the ring.
So the director went inside and arranged a crib for Ashern, then put the necklace around his neck.
What the director didn't know however, was that while the director was observing him, the baby was also looking at her with an intellect and maturity unfit for his age.
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Half a year has passed since Ashern has been reincarnated and brought into the orphanage, but this day he made a very important discovery that changed his whole worldview.
As Ashern was in the middle of his intense physical training that consisted of crawling around the orphanage, he gained the ability to see the blue mist everywhere, most predominantly on living beings. Furthermore, Ashern found out that he could control the blue mist and move it around at his will!
This world wasn't the same as his previous life, because it was a modern fantasy!
Ashern decided to call the blue mist 'Mana' until proven otherwise.
He was so excited that night and barely slept, spending hours playing around with mana.
And so, at that moment, Ashern made a decision, since he had some talent with Mana (self diagnosed), why not make use of it and try his best to walk the path of magic?
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Ashern now was a middle school student and spent his breaks practising magic in an isolated area and the fact that he didn't have any friends at orphanage or school helped in his research.
Ashern was quite aware that he was an oddball among his peers and intentionally distanced himself from others, because associating with ordinary people might bring trouble. Teachers took notice of his isolation and thought that Ashern was being bullied and only let go after he insisted that it wasn't the case.
Things changed when Ashern learned hypnosis magic, in which he barely attended classes after casting it on everyone to unconsciously avoid his 'playground', ignore whatever experiment he was doing and think he attended classes like a normal student, but never involved with him.
Since then, nothing noteworthy happened until highschool, when Ashern visited a neighboring city where he found a supernatural market.
Common folk unconsciously avoided the place due to a barrier and after entering with a disguise, Ashern found other wizards, devils and other species there either selling or strolling/buying.
It was also there where he found the world he was reincarnated into was previously an anime, borderline hentai.
Highschool DxD, a name that Ashern that was buried under years of magical and scientific knowledge, a name that he hadn't heard for a long time.
Upon realization, Ashern couldn't resist laughing like a mad man in the middle of the market, causing everyone to look at him as if he was a mad man, but he didn't care.
If there was something Ashern wanted to complain about the market, it was about prices, which were quite expensive for an orphan like him, so Ashern had to pick carefully on what to buy.
Still, his goal remained the same, albeit with some alterations.
Pursue magic and get a rich powerful and yet loving wife to profound his knowledge of magic.
'Maybe I should summon a devil?' Ashern pondered. He doesn't have any intention of joining a peerage or anything like that, but he wasn't against forming a contract with them to learn their magic, but that had to wait until he got out of the orphanage.
So once Ashern graduated from high school, he got out of the orphanage and moved to a decent sized T2 apartment with the money he saved from part-time jobs and commissions.
Once he settled in his new house, Ashern began working on setting up security barriers, expanding the internal size of the house and turning the guest room into his workshop. Next, he bought bitcoin while it was dirt cheap and invested on some stock market with companies that would soon blow up in the future.
Of course, Ashern didn't forget to hypnotise the neighbours and landlord to ignore anything strange that might happen in his house.
So Ashern started preparing for his devil summoning.
Ashern cleaned up his workshop to get more free space, picked the pamphlet that he got from a devil familiar who was distributing it at the subway station and grabbed a white chalk before starting to draw a summoning magic circle on the ground.
However, the summoning circle Ashern was drawing wasn't the same that was on the pamphlet, he was actively modifying it and giggling in excitement like a kid during the process.
'First let's remove the clan crest, I am not summoning from any particular devil pillar.'
*Scritch!* *Scritch!* *Scritch!*
'Then set up conditions for my own safety and to reduce the summoning pool.'
*Scritch!* *Scritch!* *Scritch!*
'1. The summon must have a favorable opinion towards humans.' ("This is for my own safety, it would be bad for me if they summoned someone hostile to humans.")
*Scritch!* *Scritch!* *Scritch!*
'2. The summon must be knowledgeable about magic.' ("What's the point of summoning a devil if they don't know their magic in depth?")
*Scritch!* *Scritch!* *Scritch!*
'3. The summon must be a woman.' (If I have to be taught magic and maybe an extended contract, I'd prefer my contractor be a woman than a man.")
"Hehehe…it's finished." Ashern got up and patted his pants.
So without further hesitation, Ashern burned the pamphlet and activated the wards in his workshop in case of things going downhill before channeling mana to the magic circle on the ground.
At that moment, the magic circle suddenly resonated with the golden ring hanging around his neck.
"What?" Ashern widened his eyes as this phenomenon never occurred through the course of his life.
"So this wasn't just an ordinary ring?" Ashern exclaimed in surprise as he glanced down at the ring. Suddenly, a blue screen appeared in front of him.
[Currently binding the Devil Contractor System to the host…]
[Complete.]
[Do you wish to see the tutorial?]
"???"
Ashern was startled for a second, but quickly regained his composure.
'Is this the system that every reincarnator has? Then why did it only appear now?' Ashern pondered, but he quickly shook his head and pressed 'No'.
"Not right now, I have more important matters at hand."
Ashern turned his gaze from the screen to the magic circle which began emitting red light and formed a crest in its center, which surprised Ashern.
'Gremory!?'
Having memorized all devil pillar's crests available to the public, Ashern immediately recognized it as the Gremory one.
'Despite the anomaly called Sirzechs Gremory born in that family, they weren't renowned for their magic expertise.'
'But perhaps it's for the better, if they are too powerful then it might lower my chances to secure a contract.'
The light started gradually dying out and revealed a beautiful woman wearing nothing but a nightgown and underwear, sleeping peacefully on the cold floor.
'I take my words back.' The corner of his lips raised as a drop of sweat ran down his forehead. Although her figure was very alluring, perhaps the most he has seen in both of his lives, it wasn't something that Ashern was focusing on right now.
'That crimson hair definitely belongs to the devils of Gremory, but her power…'
"It's at least ultimate class without a doubt…" Ashern muttered in disbelief, he didn't know whether to be happy that he managed to summon a devil of this caliber or in panic that he summoned one.
Ashern waited for a while, but she didn't even move any muscle except for breathing. Upon closer look, he noticed that the devil in front of him was under a spell that was likely the cause of her unperturbed nap.
Furthermore, Ashern analysed the spell and could tell that it was fueling from her own demonic power reserves!
'Either she casted the spell on herself or she was cursed.' Ashern concluded as he gathered mana in his hand, ready to dispel it. 'Maybe I could secure some points if I wake her up.'
As he brought his hands closer, Gremory's eyes shot open and rose from the floor. Her eyes darted around half dazed open and yawned.
"This isn't my home…" She muttered while rubbing her eyes.
"Hello, Miss Gremory." Ashern greeted respectfully, not before getting up and taking a step back. "I apologise for disturbing your peaceful rest, this is my workshop. My name is Ashern Crowell, just an apprentice wizard."
"Wizard?" The devil muttered as she slowly widened her eyes and clasped her hands with a smile on her face. "Oh right! It's been a long while since I was summoned by a wizard—no, in fact, I don't think it was even possible to summon me at this age! You must be a talented wizard!"
''At this age'? Does it mean she is ancient or what?' Ashern thought as he studied her. 'For someone older than my grandma, she sure acts so energetically.'
"You aren't thinking something rude are you?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Of course not." Ashern lied without ever changing his expression.
"Is that so? I will believe you for now." The red head devil stood up and walked towards. "Then let me—" Her voice died down once she noticed the golden ring hanging on Ashern's neck. "Wait…that ring, where did you get it?"
"This? I had it since I was a baby." Ashern raised an eyebrow at her. "I am not giving this even if you are one of the Satans."
"And you shouldn't!" The red head devil raised her voice and pointed her index finger at it. "Once you realize its value, you wouldn't even dare to part with it even in your sleep!"
"Is that so?" He brought the golden ring to his eye level. 'It seemed just a normal ring for me…that's what me of yesterday would say, but it reacted when I was summoning a devil and a system suddenly appeared…'
"Is this one of Solomon's rings or what?" Ashern asked jokingly, expecting to be refuted. However, all he received was silence from the devil.
"..."
"...Are you for real?"
"Are you telling me you didn't know that?" She asked with her hands on her hips.
"I thought it was just a normal ring…" Ashern confessed as he scratched the back of his head, still processing the fact that he had one of the treasures of all wizards in his possession and he didn't know about it. "Wait, how did you even recognize it?"
She smirked as if she was expecting that question and put her hand above her puffed chest. "Because I've seen the ten rings with my own eyes."
"I am one of Solomon's remaining contracted devils who are still alive." She declared as her tone contained regal quality in it. "I am the devil who rides camels, who wears the duchess' crown, who reveals hidden treasures and speaks the truth of the past, present, future!"
"I, Runeas Gremory, the progenitor of the devil house of Gremory and one of the dukes of hell, greet the blood of David and descendant of Magic King Solomon, Ashern Crowell!"
Runeas flared her demonic power, but contrary to what normal people might think, Ashern didn't feel pressured at all.
'I heard that demonic power was supposed to be oppressive, destructive, evil…then what is this nostalgic feeling in my chest?' Ashern thought as he placed his hand on his heart.
Ashern stared at her violet eyes and flared his mana, clashing with Runea's demonic power.
"Ho~ho~ not bad, young man. I am starting to like you." Runeas said as her smile never left.
Their standoff continued for a few seconds before they retreated their aura as if nothing happened.
"Well then, it's time to do what I was summoned to." Runeas said as she extended her hand to Ashern.
"It was about time." Ashern nodded as a contract scroll he prepared beforehand appeared in his hand and handed to Runeas.
"Access to devil magic, protection, information sharing, no harming either parties or deceiving that will lead to damages for either parties…" Runeas started to read some of the conditions Ashern established. "You really came prepared."
"I am a Wizard after all." Ashern shrugged. "So what do you think?"
"Well, the conditions are reasonable and expected for a Wizard, so nothing to comment about."
"Then what is your price? I am saying, I don't have much to give"
The contracts made between wizards and devils were often the type of give and take, and regardless of her friendly attitude towards him, Ashern doubted that she would do it for free, as Sun Tzu once said, there were no such things as free meals in this world.
"It's nothing complicated and only you can give." Runeas grinned and got close enough to him that their chests were touching each other. She leaned her head and whispered to his ear. "Give me your heart and virginity."
Hearing that, Ashern nearly choked.