The next day, Rowan woke up and checked his status.
Status
Name: Rowan Bael
Age: 17
Titles: The New Guy, Nekomancer
Affiliation: Devils
Alignment: Chaotic/Neutral
Power Level: Mid-High Class
A little surprised at his new power level but more surprised about his alignment, Rowan went downstairs to join the others for breakfast.
"Morning everybody," Rowan said with a yawn.
Sora said, "Don't do that, I'll wanna go back to sleep," she said, looking tired.
Bancho signed, Morning, boss, as he ate homemade banana pancakes and sipped coffee like a proper gentleman.
"That will never cease to amaze me," said Rowan. "Morning, Bancho," he said politely.
"So, Sora," Rowan said, "why does my alignment say Chaotic/Neutral all of a sudden?"
Sora said, "Oh, you finally checked your status? Well, why do you think? You declared to two devil princesses that you're going to break several rules and go against the way they do things. Of course your alignment changed."
Rowan just shrugged and said, "Fair enough. I'm not taking it back though."
"Nor should you," Sora said. "And if you're curious about the high power jump, I urge you to consider all the shit you've been through these last three and a half months."
Rowan said, "Once again, fair enough. Also, Nikolai's our guest, right?"
"Yes," Sora said.
"Then why are we having him cook?"
Sora said, "'Cause I'm too lazy and you were too tired. Plus, his food's awesome."
"True enough," Rowan said with a smile.
Then Nikolai walked in, gave Rowan and Sora some pancakes, and said, "Alright Rowan, today will be the final phase of your training." He snapped his fingers, and the shadow binding disappeared.
Rowan said, "Oh hell, I forgot I had those."
Nikolai said, "That was the point. In today's final lesson, you'll see how far you've come in these three and a half months. I'm only having trouble finding you an opponent that's near your strength level."
Just then, as if fate itself wanted to put its two cents in, there was a loud knock at the door followed by a loud, amused, yet proud voice:
"Rowan, it's me, Sairaorg! I've come to visit you, cousin!" the voice said with a laugh.
"Well, that solves that," Nikolai said with an elegant smirk.
Rowan answered the door and, on the other side, saw a tall, handsome young man with a muscular build, violet eyes, and short black hair.
"Hey, cousin," said Rowan. "What brings you here? Come on in."
As Sairaorg entered, he said, "I came to check up on you. I heard recently that Rias managed to get you out of the house, so I thought I'd see how you are."
He then noticed Nikolai, Sora, and Bancho and said, "I see you have some interesting guests over," he said with an amused smirk—until he sensed a little of Nikolai's power and was immediately on guard.
Nikolai said, "Oh, don't worry. You have nothing to fear from me."
Sairaorg said, "Is that so? And who are you?"
Rowan stepped up and said, "Don't worry, cousin. He's my mentor Nikolai. The gorilla is my familiar Bancho, and the girl is some stray that wandered in off the streets."
"Hey, screw you!" Sora said.
Rowan said, "Alright, she's a spirit I'm contracted with."
With that, Sairaorg relaxed and sat at the table as Nikolai served him some pancakes.
As we ate, Nikolai spoke to Sairaorg, saying, "As it happens, your timing is quite fortuitous."
"How so?" Sairaorg said with a bit of caution.
Nikolai said, "Rowan is at the end of his training and now needs someone to compare his strength to. I'm far too above him, if you can't tell, but you're close enough that we can gauge how far he's come."
Sairaorg smiled and said, "Oh, is that all? Of course I'll spar with Rowan. In fact, one of the reasons I came over here was to make sure he wasn't slacking on his training."
Rowan looked momentarily offended and said, "First Rias, now you. Does everyone I'm related to think I'll waste away into nothing if they don't make me do stuff?"
And Sairaorg, with a straight face, said, "Yes. 100%."
Rowan sighed and said, "I can't get mad at you. Alright, so I guess we're sparring after breakfast."
"Yes, we are," said Sairaorg with a nod. Then he said, "Other than training, what else is new?"
"I got into a fight with Rias," Rowan said honestly.
Sairaorg said, "What happened?" with a serious look on his face.
"I sort of got pissed at her after I found out she's ignoring the normal humans in her territory and letting them be killed—and who knows what else—while not doing anything about it."
Sairaorg said, "While I agree with you that she should be doing more, you know right now she has her own issues to deal with."
Rowan replied, "I know, and maybe I shouldn't have lashed out at her, but I was upset. I won't apologize for what I said, but for how I said it."
Sairaorg nodded and said, "Yes, she does need a wake-up call. But you should have done it differently. I'm glad you realized on your own. Now, are you gonna tell me how you got a gorilla as a familiar?"
Rowan said, "To tell the truth, I don't know. He sort of just showed up, and I made him my familiar."
Bancho signed, I'm Bancho. Nice to meet you, boss's cousin.
Sairaorg blinked and said, "And he has manners? That's surprising."
"Yeah, I don't know either," Rowan said. "I've just been rolling with it."
Sairaorg said, "Yeah, I think I will too." Then said, "Alright, let's do this," as he headed to the door.
Rowan followed and looked back. "No, Sora."
And Sora said, "Aww," as she put down the camera. "I just wanted a few for the scrapbook."
"What scrapbook?" Rowan said.
"The one of all your most epic fails," she said with a cheeky smile.
Rowan said, "Of course you have one of those," as he went out to meet Sairaorg in the yard and got into a fighting stance across from him.
He said, "Alright, let's do this."
Sairaorg grinned and said, "Try not to go down too fast, Rowan. I'd like a good fight."