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What exactly was "mana recharge"?
In the supernatural world, it was the most common way to restore lost magic energy.
There were lots of ways to do it, sure. But the most effective? Physical exchange of bodily fluids.
"Seriously, did you sneak off to read some sketchy magazines or something?"
Rias leaned lazily on the desk, her cheeks still flushed red. But her eyes sparkled mischievously as she stared straight at Minato.
"Hey, you're the one who brought it up, remember?"
Minato looked absolutely righteous.
"They came right to my doorstep—what, you think I'm just gonna let that slide? Who do you think I am?"
Still, he had to admit, recharging his magic felt amazing. Most of his mana had already recovered.
"Ah la la~ Looks like I'm interrupting something?"
Out in front of the library, a stunning girl had shown up without anyone noticing. She had long hair down to her waist tied in a ponytail, and gave off that classic Yamato Nadeshiko vibe—elegant and traditional.
In terms of looks, she could totally go toe-to-toe with Rias.
"...Akeno? How did you get in here?"
Rias stiffened slightly.
After all, that was her first kiss just now. Even if the one who saw it was Himejima Akeno, it still made her a bit embarrassed.
"Well, I was waiting outside for way too long," Akeno said, her eyes casually sweeping over the two of them. Her eyes narrowed slightly with a mysterious little smirk.
"If she wants to watch, let her. I still need a bit more mana to fully recover."
With that, Minato leaned in toward Rias again.
"President Rias, did you give him the thing already?"
Watching this unfold, Akeno couldn't hold back anymore.
What the hell?
When did Minato get so shameless?
Sure, she didn't really mind watching or waiting or whatever…
But to be force-fed public affection like this? Seriously not cool.
"Ahem, right. We still have business to take care of."
Rias gave a little cough and quickly pulled herself back into her usual graceful and composed self.
Then she held out her hand, and a pale purple magic circle briefly flashed before disappearing.
In her hand now… was a set of chess pieces.
"Devil pieces, huh?"
Minato's eyes lit up.
These were created by Beelzebub, one of the current Four Great Satans, both to boost devil combat power and to expand the devil race.
It was a technique that could convert other beings into devils.
"Here. From now on, this set of devil pieces is yours."
"Got it."
Minato didn't bother being polite and took them right away.
Rias smiled and added a reminder: "Each set has a limited number of pieces, so you'll need to be really careful when picking your servants."
"If you can find special races or Sacred Gear users, even better."
Once she finished explaining, Rias left the library with Akeno in tow.
"Servants, huh…"
Minato picked up one of the devil pieces, but he didn't seem too interested.
If this was before…
He would've done everything he could to recruit powerful beings as his servants.
But right now, the top priority was strengthening himself.
With just a thought, a virtual panel appeared in front of him.
[Notice: Origin +10]
Minato paused for a second at the message, then looked closely at the faint, mysterious markings etched onto the devil piece.
"So that's it… This is how you get Origin Points."
Origin—one of the fundamental building blocks of the world.
So everything—objects, creatures, even knowledge—could be considered a part of Origin.
"No wonder I had so many points to start with. Must've been everything I've seen and learned over the years."
Thinking that, Minato casually grabbed a book from the shelf and started flipping through it.
He read at lightning speed, and when he finally finished the book, another message popped up.
[Origin +1]
Looking at the message, Minato started to think.
"Seems like gaining Origin Points isn't fixed. Judging by this, the more extraordinary the item, the more points I can get."
With that in mind, he put the book back and sat down again.
He turned his palm upward, and a magic circle lit up in midair.
With a whoosh, a pile of books dropped onto the table.
All of them came from the Underworld—and every single one was rare and valuable.
Rias had pretty much forced them on him to help boost his strength.
But until now, aside from a few practical spells, Minato had only focused on studying thunder magic, trying to get stronger fast.
He hadn't even touched most of the other books.
Now, he randomly picked one up and started flipping through it quickly.
[Notice: Origin +3][Notice: Origin +5]
Before he even finished the book, the notifications were already popping up like crazy.
"Knew it! My guess was spot on."
His eyes lit up, and he flipped even faster.
Thankfully, he was now a devil—his memory far surpassed that of a regular human.
It didn't take long before he finished another book.
But Minato wasn't in a rush to spend his points yet. He picked up another one and kept reading.
As the books piled up, so did the Origin Points. And he started noticing something else:
No matter what the content was, as long as he read it—even without fully understanding—he'd still gain experience.
Before he knew it…
It was already deep into the night.
Minato had stayed in the library the whole time, but he didn't feel tired at all. It was like he'd completely lost track of time.
"Alright, that's enough for now…"
He set the book down and summoned his virtual panel.
[Minato] Class: Origin MageMagic: Thunder Magic LV41 (+)Origin: 1815 points
He rubbed his slightly sore eyes and, with a thought, started allocating points.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
Bright lights flashed across the virtual panel.
Minato could feel his mana raging inside him like a storm.
Around him, it felt like an entire domain of thunder had formed—his vision was filled with lightning.
Finally…
The light faded.
[Minato] Class: Origin Mage Magic: Thunder Magic LV60 (+)Origin: 1182 points
Minato narrowed his eyes at the new message that appeared on the panel:
[Ding! Thunder Magic has reached LV60. Spend 1000 Origin Points to change class?]
"....."