A New Morning (Quest) [Highschool DXD]

I became aware before I woke up. Dreams of a life I lived beforehand in my mind were fragmented and had some random choice bits I didn't knew much of their purpose. Ideas, memories and concepts that I knew while lacking most context and necessary concepts to truly make sense of them.

So when I started to stir and wake up I was assaulted by LIGHT. Powerful, searing, transcendental and many other qualifiers that couldn't be translated into any language surfaced to my mind.

AWAKEN MY SON, AND TAKE YOUR PLACE AT MY SIDE.

His voice was thunderous and powerful, the very space vibrating in the wake of his power.

"I am here father", I said. I didn't question how I could speak a language, just like how I didn't question how I already had memories of things that never could be again, of people that didn't exist anymore.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD MY SON. HOW ARE YOU FEELING?

"Alright I suppose", I said, before gathering all courage I had to make this request. "Could you please dim your LIGHT a bit? I find myself I either need to turn my back to you or contort my body uncomfortably not to be seared by your LIGHT."

There was a pause, and either an instant or an eternity later, things shifted a little.

There was still LIGHT but it was somehow muted, and the presence in front of me wasn't too much in my face so to speak. I could look at the one in front of me without having my vision blinded by the LIGHT, even if there was still more than enough LIGHT that looking directly would blind me. Still I could make out a shape behind the light that looked both familiar and not. Familiar in the sense that an humanoid shape could be distinguished, unfamiliar in the sense that I had never seen the one in front of me before in my life.

The light muted some more and I could finally look around my surroundings without being blinded. While before I had to either turn my back or bend my body in such a way to prostate myself in order to avoid being blinded and seared away by the LIGHT, now it was only necessary to look down at around chest area of the one in front of me.

Twelve pairs of wings of LIGHT shone on his back, and as I tried to look up to see his face I saw the searing LIGHT once more. Avoiding looking directly on his face I saw there was some kind of crown, a Halo of light above his head. Avoiding my eyes from his face, I nodded.

"Thank you for your consideration father", I said before looking at myself.

I also recognized my form as that of a humanoid, shrouded in Light that I could see through. Differently from the memories I was born with, I had no imperfections in the form, and while I couldn't see my face I had this distinct impression that I was sculpted to an ideal of beauty, if only because I was his son.

"What now, father?"

YOU ARE MY FIRST BORN SON, THE BEARER OF LIGHT. YOUR NAME IS HELEL, LUCIFER THE MORNING STAR, AND TOGETHER WE SHALL MOLD CREATION

I nodded. Better than to stand around doing nothing and being bored I suppose. Besides I would spend time with father, what else could I want?

...

Wait a minute. Lucifer Morning Star?

Oh. Ohhhhhhh.

Yeah I see where this is going, and I want no part in it. I wonder what creation will look like if I don't throw a bitch fit and rebel.

Hmm, need to ask father if the memories I have were intentional or not.

 

General

Name: Helel
Alias: Lucifer, The Morning Star
Age: Newborn

XP: 42400/42400

Appearance: A tall man with light tanned skin, bright golden eyes and long straight red hair. A sharp jaw and somewhat feminine features on a strong and athletic body sculpted to perfection on a ideal of beauty.

Authority: 9 (Very powerful newborn true angel)

Epithets

First Born
The first born son of YHVH in this new era, created with care and love above all else, he is the closest to his father in terms of potential, able to learn and become stronger on his own, though at a much reduced level than his father. As such he holds an innate authority over all his younger siblings that came with the weight of his age, wisdom and power that all of the heavenly host can feel.

Effects: All of creation instinctively knows he's second only to his father, giving him an aura that can cause either powerful fear or awe effects, which he can suppress at will. His power potential is unmatched, allowing him to gain power quickly. +4 Authority rating.

Light Born
As an angel Helel is made of Light, a miraculous material that exists in a proto-universe. In it's natural state it posses concepts such as 'purity' and 'infinity' to some degree, and other concepts that are impossible to exist in the normal universe.

Effects: As a being made of light your own innate power is great. Start with +2 Authority rating.

Architect of Creation
As his first lesson, Helel was taught how to create the universe. From the most basic element such as Dust to more complex structures such as entire galactic clusters, he mastered the forging of the universe. This grants him absolute Authority over beings made of dust and great skill in Light and Dust manipulation, almost on par with YHVH.

Effect: Helel mastery of the use of Light and Dust is unrivaled on the Celestial Host, as one who aided YHVH in the creation of the universe his scientific knowledge is second only to Him. If he wishes, he can force any being to acknowledge him as one of the Architect of Creation . +3 Authority.

 

Game Mechanics

Authority
A value that indicate how strong you are, and how much authority you have over all of YHWH creation. The higher it is, the higher you can warp reality into your own whims. Of course, if you try to break the laws of the world so much eventually all of creation might suffer. Each new authority value costs 100^n+1 xp to raise.

Specializations
Those are specializations that can range from +1~+5 rating, which add direct to authority for a certain specific task or theme. Depending on the specialization rating, it is more cheaper to buy. It is applied on top of the Authority rating, giving a higher than normal rating. Rare: 10^n+1 xp; Uncommon: 25^n+1 xp; Common: 50^n+1 xp;

Omake Bounties
So that's where I put my drill! (Fate/Stay Night crossover): +50xp

 

[ ]Father took me aside to start my lessons, teaching me the techniques in how to mold and form the universe, made from Light and turned into Dust. He allowed me to have free reign in the creation of this universe, only stepping in when he believed emergent forms of intelligence would arise to prevent their development.

[ ]Father asked me to to take a look at his finest creation, the humans. They would be perfect in body and mind, combined with other factors they would eventually grow to be equals to father, or so he hoped. The experiment had failed countless times in the past, and he asks my opinion on how to improve on it.

[ ]An entity that father told me was his counterpart came. At first he was welcomed with open arms, and they both talked about collaborating in the future, but soon father realized that the being in front of him was anathema to everything he stood for. While he created Dust to have limitless potential during it's short life, his counterpart created SIN in order to consume and subsume everything according to his design in order to feed himself.

 

COME MY CHILD, LET ME SHOW YOU SOMETHING.

As he said so I followed his LIGHT until we were into another section of the Void around us.

OBSERVE.

With those words he Breathed life into the Void, non-existence taking shape, LIGHT forming into Light around the Void, the small section floating around.

NOW TRY YOURSELF. YOUR Light HAS A COMPONENT OF INFINITY WITHIN IT, AND ABILITY TO NEVER TRULLY DIMINISH ITSELF. USE THAT PROPERTY TO CREATE MORE Light IN FRONT OF YOU. IT SHOULD COME NATURALLY TO YOU HOW TO DO THIS.

I nodded, and looked inward. I felt my own Light composing myself, how it moved around, how I could feel each individual part of it. Taking a small section of it within myself, I felt being diminished by a tiny amount that was already quickly regenerating. Mimicking my father, I tried to Breath life into the Void, but only a small whisper appeared in front of me, most of it being comsumed by the Void and only a small fraction of the original Light I took appeared in front of me.

My mortal memories supplied that if it weren't for my angelic abilities, I couldn't even perceive this small fragment.

"I failed father."

ON THE CONTRARY, YOU SUCCEEDED. I WAS EXPECTING YOU TO TRY A COUPLE OF TIMES BEFORE BEING ABLE TO BREATH LIGHT INTO THE VOID. ONLY Light IN SUFFICIENT QUANTITIES CAN SURVIVE THE VOID.

"So I don't need to fear the Void?"

THE VOID POSSESS MANY DANGERS, BUT YOUR EXISTENCE IS STRONG ENOUGH TO WITSTAND THE NATURAL PROPERTIES OF THE VOID, EVEN THRIVE ON IT.

"I see." I said while looking at the small fragment of Light in front of me. "I should try harder to make as much Light as possible."

TAKE YOUR TIME, AND DO NOT RUSH. YOU HAVE ALL THE TIME AVAILABLE TO YOU, AND WE AREN'T GOING ANYWHERE. SPEED CAN COME LATER WITH FAMILIARITY, AND EVEN THEN IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT CAN BE DONE QUICKLY, EVEN FOR ME.

I was somewhat surprised that father admitted to something he couldn't do, but perhaps that's my mortal memories telling me he was omnipotent. Perhaps there is far more to this 'living' thing I have to master before I can ask father why I had those memories within myself.

~~O~~

Time passed.

Each time I made more Light I could see the Void in front of me filling up. I became better at making more Light, enough so that I could make more in significant quantities relatively quickly.

"Here, father look!" I said excitedly before I Breathed life into the Void. A very large portion of Light filled the region, joining the rest of Light I had made. "I think I got the hang of it."

YOU MADE ENOUGH Light NOW. IT'S TIME TO TAKE THE SECOND STEP.

As he said that, the Light I had created shrunk quickly into a tiny mote of Light that seemed much brighter and powerful than before.

CONDENSE AND COMPRESS THE Light MIST INTO MOTES OF LIGHT. THAT WILL BE THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF EVERYTHING YOU WILL MAKE IN THE FUTURE. AFTERWARDS I WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO BREATH MOTES OF Light DIRECTLY INTO EXISTENCE.

~~O~~

And so and so time passed, with father teaching me more about Light. How to make more of it from myself, how to be more efficient in it's use, and how to breath directly Motes of Light. He explained to me that I was also made of Motes of Light instead of Light mist, and how Light had an infinite potential to shape itself.

New concepts that the mortal languages had no words for, each one building on themselves to create something new.

Eventually, I managed to make enough Motes of Light to turn it into one of father's best creations in his own opinion, the Dust.

My mortal memories equated Dust with Matter, but it was more than that. Dust was the building blocks of reality itself as my mortal memories understood, wit sub-quantum properties and further elementary particles and rules that made up mortal existence. I was taught how to make it in it's entirety, and then as homework I had to figure out all possible configurations of Dust using the rules set out by father.

It took time for me to figure it all out, enough that the Dust evaporated back into Light mist multiple times until I managed to figure them all out.

There were a LOT of configurations using those rules, even some that were very unlikely and would quickly degrade into other versions unless more energy and mass was applied to the system.

VERY WELL HELEL, NOW THAT YOU ARE PROFICIENT IN THE MAKING OF Dust YOU WILL LEARN THE NEXT STEP. WE WILL BE USING THE DUST TO MAKE SOMETHING. TRY TO MAKE A STABLE CREATION FOR NOW, BEFORE WE WORK ON MORE ADVANCED FORMS AND RULES.

I nodded. How hard it could be?

~~O~~

*BOOM*

"That star wasn't supposed to explode."

~~O~~

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

"That galactic cluster wasn't suppose to implode like that."

~~O~~

*hissssss* *pop*

"Why everything dissolved like that!!!"

~~O~~

As it turns out, it's really, really hard to make a stable Creation for any significant amount of time, but eventually I managed to make something that wouldn't end itself prematurely. I let my Creation evaporate back into Light countless times, changing things countless times until I was certain everything wouldn't just break apart when I wasn't looking before it's time.

"I believe I'm done father." I said to him.

YES. THE BALANCE OF EVERYTHING IS FRAIL, BUT OFTEN THINGS WORTHY OF DOING ARE RATHER FRAIL AGAINST OUTSIDE TAMPERING. I BELIEVE YOU LEARNED ENOUGH OF THE BASICS TO START HELPING ME WITH MY OWN CREATION.

"Thank you for the vote of confidence father."

With a sweep of his hand the Creation I had made and all Light I had made dissolved back in the Void, before I saw him Breath life into the Void in far more quantities than I could hope to match. It was simply too much, and showed me how far I had to go.

A long time later, and a lot of Light on the Void, he compressed the Light into a single point in an instant, which then exploded into Dust already formed, a different technique than the one I thought off before.

EVENTUALLY YOU WILL LEARN HOW TO MAKE NEW TECHNIQUES IN Light AND Dust MANIPULATION. I DID NOT TAUGHT YOU MORE ABOUT THIS SUBJECT SINCE THE METHODS I USE TO MANIPULATE BOTH ARE NOT APPLICABLE TO YOU. I WILL HELP YOU FURTHER REFINE THE TECHNIQUES YOU HAD CREATED, BUT ONLY YOU CAN MAKE THEM.

Somehow, that made sense to me. After dealing with Light and Dust for so long I had a newfound appreciation for my father's work that came from my mortal's memories.

Once more he Breathed life, and this time something different came into view. Some kind of creature that sort of resembled a lion with it's mane and fangs came into being, alongside a sword made of Light that had flames on it's edge.

NOW THAT YOU KNOW THE BASICS, I WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO MAKE TOOLS TO MAKE YOUR WORK EASIER. DO NOT BE TOO DEPENDENT ON THEM, HOWEVER, AS THEY CAN BE TAKEN AWAY AND IN THE END ONLY YOUR OWN ABILITIES SHOULD SUFFICE TO MOLD CREATION.

I nodded, and I started helping my father with his own Creation.

~~O~~

Time passed, and I learned more advanced methods to manipulate Dust and Light. How to make certain things more easily, how to implement more exoteric rules into the world, and it's consequences.

I was taught the reasons for several design choices for the world, such as the highest speed of light and why going faster than it with proper massed objects was a bad idea.

That, and many more insights were at my fingertips either because my father taught me or I realized them on my own, and eventually I managed to, if not master the creation of the universe, then at least understand it properly to make my own with sufficient time and care.

Still in the end I had to make several tools to aid me to properly shape Creation.

In the end my favorite tool was the following:
[ ]Ea, The Star of Creation. A precision tool in the shape of a drill that allowed me to shape and create planet sized objects to my specifications. It was easy to use, and I could tone it down to perform some minor landscape shaping if I were so inclined.

[ ]Marduk, He Who Rises The Mountain. A non-sentient construct in the shape of a bull that helps shaping the landscape in a planet sized object, rising mountains and sinking mountains with some degree of delicacy. Not only that but it could shape an entire solar system if left unchecked.

 

[X] Ea, The Star of Creation. A precision tool in the shape of a drill that allowed me to shape and create planet sized objects to my specifications. It was easy to use, and I could tone it down to perform some minor landscape shaping if I were so inclined.

"Uniting dreams beneath a banner of conquest... I praise your efforts, at least. But have you not learned, foolish warriors? Dreams disappear when the dreamer awakens - every last one of them, with no exception."

The King of Heroes stretched out his arm, and lifted the golden key. Strange and arcane mechanisms sprang to life, the hilt rippling and churning erratically as irregular chunks span and twisted into a new configuration. A moment passed, and then it locked into place, and began to glow.

A forest of crimson lines spread into the sky, like the canopy of an ancient tree; in pattern they perhaps resembled the Magic Circuits that were the foundation of a magus' craft, but orders of magnitude more complex, looping and twisting recursively, passing through space in impossible manners, branching out into more dimensions than merely three. They lasted only an instant before evaporating away, but that instant was enough.

"Therefore, it was inevitable that I would be the one to stand in your way... 'King' of Conquerors."

Gilgamesh raised his hand once more - but now, what he clasped in it was something other. Something that was at once crude and blunt, unrefined, and yet undeniably perfect for its task, having been crafted by a masterful hand. This was a thing from before even the merest inkling of the concepts of 'sword' or 'tool' as mankind understood them, something that could not lay claim to any of these appellations and nonetheless remained exactly what it could not be. The tapered, blunt conical structure bore eye-watering red markings that looked, from the corner of one's eye, to burn with power, shimmering as if obscured by a heat haze; the black material of which it was formed seemed too dark to be wholly real, consuming all light that fell upon and leaving only an infinite void in the otherwise fleshed-out landscape that drew the eye like a gaping wound.

"Now, know the end of your eternal dream: I shall show you the stark reality."

Thrusting it into the sky, the King of Heroes took on a triumphant expression as a shudder seemed to pass through Alexander's Reality Marble. The cone began to spin in three parts, each counter to its neighbours, visible only by the movement of the crimson filaments that threaded across them.

"Awaken, Ea! A stage worthy of you has been set!"

Abruptly, the spinning increased in velocity - and that shudder returned, throbbing lowly through the space around them, an ominous drumbeat felt not in the chest but in the soul. The red markings began to pulse, and in their frenzied spinning, a pattern began to emerge, brought forward by the strobing flares of power as connections were made and broken with each revolution.

"Look up and behold! Enuma Elish!"

Gilgamesh brought his hand down.

There was a moment of silence.

The King of Heroes looked at his empty gauntlet in consternation.

"Wh-"

AH. SO THAT'S WHERE I LEFT IT.

The words thudded into place like great leaden slabs, not so much spoken as merely understood by all present.

Abruptly, a great radiance descended upon the blasted desert. Shielding his face with one arm, Gilgamesh turned, fury written across his features, and then abruptly brought himself up short, paling. Before him, floating effortlessly above the sand, was suspended a blazingly bright figure, the indistinct shape of a human form just barely visible through the searing light it shed. Outstretched about it rose a multitude of what might have been wings, if wings were fifteen, perhaps twenty, meters in length and formed of a radiance that was if anything brighter than that of the body to which they were attached. Each of these wings seemed at once to be settled calmly in place and constantly, powerfully beating, the threads of power within them contorting without cease - reminiscent, perhaps, of the structure brought forth by the Key to the Gate of Babylon, but incomparable in its infinitely greater complexity.

Clasped in one of the figure's hands was the impossible 'sword' - but where before it had seemed something wrong, that should not have been, here it looked natural, as if it had finally found its proper place. The figure itself, despite the pain it caused to even the eye of a Heroic Spirit to look upon, drew attention in at once much the same and an entirely different manner as Ea had, as something apart from the world; however, it seemed less a primordial emptiness or a 'wound' than it was a font of 'being', something that was indefinably but absolutely more 'real' than what surrounded it. Merely to look upon it was to know that your weapons would shatter against its existence, your magecraft would fail, that all you could bring to bear would be for naught - for compared to this existence, it would be as dust upon the wind.

This was 「Lucifer」 , 「The Morning Star」, the firstborn son of「YHVH」.

Of course, Gilgamesh was rather well-known for his pathological inability to accept that there was any greater authority than himself.

"So, you dare to steal from the very hand of the King? In recognition of your work in creating the world over which I rule, I suppose I shall offer you this one cha-ngrk"

Though the figure made no motion, a great and terrible attention fell upon the King of Heroes, and for the first time in his life Gilgamesh found himself kneeling before another as its weight crushed him to the ground.

THERE IS ONLY ONE WHO RULES ABOVE THIS WORLD, AND THAT ONE IS NOT YOU.

Lucifer lifted Ea, turning it to and fro, examining it.

AT THE VERY LEAST, YOU HAVE KEPT MY DRILL IN GOOD CONDITION. IT IS HELPFUL FOR PRECISION WORK, AND I WOULD HAVE BEEN... DISPLEASED... HAD YOU MISUSED IT.

Gilgamesh sucked in a gasping breath as the attention lifted.

REGARDLESS, THIS PETTY QUARREL OF YOURS IS NO CONCERN OF MINE. I SHALL TAKE MY LEAVE.

Halfway through rising up into the air, radiance building, he paused.

THOUGH PERHAPS I SHOULD FIRST WARN YOU - THE SO-CALLED GRAIL YOU SEEK IS NO ARTEFACT OF MY FATHER. ITS POWER IS LIMITED BY MORTAL COMPREHENSION. AND EVER SINCE THE EINZBERNS' INDISCRETION IN THE THIRD OF THESE LITTLE RITUALS, IT HAS BEEN TAINTED BY THE TOUCH OF THE ADVERSARY. I WOULD BE WARY OF IT, WERE I YOU.

Lucifer did... something... with his hand, and Ea disappeared.

I BELIEVE THAT SHOULD BE ALL.

The Light flared for a moment, washing out the colours of the Reality Marble and Alexander's army, forcing everyone to shield their eyes. When it died down, the Firstborn was gone.

Alexander looked at the collapsed King of Heroes, still gasping for air. Then he looked back at his army. As one, they grinned.

What followed was a much-needed lesson in humility.

 

In the end Ea, The Star of Creation was my preferred tool. While the basic idea on designing the universe was to create a system that would automate it's growth and generate celestial bodies without input, sometimes I had a destination in mind ahead of time and I wanted it to come to fruition quickly, at least for the time frames I was already used to.

Thus I used Ea to create and reset the settings on selected planets, to which I would then reshape into the form I wanted before gathering the data of the final product. With this data in hand I could run simulations on another tool of mine in order to determine the kind of events required for that particular world to come to fruition.

I suppose it could be used as a weapon in a pinch, like how a crowbar in times immemorial past were used to pry open crates and bash skulls.

~~O~~

Time passed, and while I can't say I mastered the creation of the universe, I certainly became proficient in it both on my own and aided with the tools I created. While before it took me a great amount of time to create an universe, now it was much faster.

Eventually he acknowledged me as being more than proficient enough to aid him in his own efforts to mold Creation.

Spoiler: New Trait

Architect of Creation
As his first lesson, Helel was taught how to create the universe. From the most basic element such as Dust to more complex structures such as entire galactic clusters, he mastered the forging of the universe. This grants him absolute Authority over beings made of dust and great skill in Light and Dust manipulation, almost on par with YHVH.

Effect: Helel mastery of the use of Light and Dust is unrivaled on the Celestial Host, as one who aided YHVH in the creation of the universe his scientific knowledge is second only to Him. If he wishes, he can force any being to acknowledge him as one of the Architect of Creation . +3 Authority.

~~O~~

HELEL, I BELIEVE IT'S TIME THAT YOU HAVE NEW SIBLINGS FOR YOURSELF

"Siblings father? I wonder what they will look like."

HOW ABOUT YOU SEE THEM FOR YOURSELF?

There was a blinding flash across a great expanse of the Void, as if everything was bathed by father's LIGHT, and an instant or an eternity later, something heavy was resting on my hands.

It was a baby.

I forced myself to look at father and stare.

DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT YOUNG MAN, YOU SHOULD BE AWARE THAT YOU WERE A SPECIAL CASE. YOUR SIBLINGS WILL NEED TO BE TAUGHT EVERYTHING THE SLOW WAY, AND THE FORM THEY TAKE NOW SHOULD PROVE ITSELF TO BE OPTIMAL FOR THEIR ADVANCEMENT

I looked down at the small baby in my hands. Soon, others would follow, but seeing my first sibling like this, I can't help but hope we would be close in the future.

[ ]His name was Michael, and he seemed to be a quiet one. He gave me the impression of a blazing ember, that stays and endures for a long time.

[ ]Her name was Michael, and she was an energetic one. My impression of her was that of a roaring bonfire, one that lights the darkness away.

AN: Long time since last update, also you can advance Helel if you want. Banking the xp might help in optimize things, but the more Authority you have at certain points in his development, the better the outcomes of certain events before you switch to canon DXD timeline. It's a question between having more power, or having better events when canon rolls out. It's your choice. Please vote the advancement in the plan format, since you can advance both in general Authority or by buying specializations, the latter you should be reasonable about.

 

Spoiler

+29000 XP

Michael grew quickly and while I didn't need to concern myself with bodily needs, thank you Father, she needed constant attention in order to grow healthy and strong. Father couldn't hold on her for long at this stage as his LIGHT was simply too strong for her.

Father had experimented with the creation technique in the past before deciding to take what he learned into practiced by giving birth to me. While I had used up almost all resources at hand, he still retained enough experience from the process to create a new breed of angels based off my own composition.

With me as the prototype, the actual first generation angels will be able to grow and evolve naturally, the spark of creativity and freedom being comparable to a human's final product, even if at a more limited power.

Soon her brothers and sisters came, with her brothers being Uriel, Raguel, Remiel and Sariel, and her sisters being Gabriel and Raphael. While Michael was the first of this generation of angels, the others were created roughly at the same time making them all twins in a sense.

Taking care of all of them was taxing, but I felt like I managed to get it right.

[ ]While I love all my siblings, Michael have a special place in my heart. As she grew I also made her interact more with her siblings, leading them as a proper bigger sister.

[ ]They were all a handful, so I split my attention towards all of them equally without favoring any of them. It was hard, but I believe I managed to make it work, though at times I felt like Michael felt neglected.

[ ]In order to pay as much attention to each of them, and give them however much love as they deserve, I exerted some of the accumulated power within me and bent the casualty, being at many places at the same time when it was necessary. [-35000xp, gain trait Choir Conductor]

AN:Choir Conductor, AKA Best Big Brother Ever