Right now Takuya was on his side lying down on a floor cushion, eating some meat off a skewer. He was watching the antics of Kazama and Sasaki at the minute and inwardly laughing at how the two of them were so oblivious to the other's feelings for each other.

'Is it finally time for me to play cupid?' Takuya mused, mentally, 'I guess I could slowly help them realize it...or I could keep embarrassing them until they realize it? Yeah...that seems like the way to do it~' playfully thinking this, Takuya finished off the last bit of his skewer before reaching for another.

Before he could reach for one, a slender hand quickly reached over, grabbed a skewer and gave it to his outward reaching hand. Looking over at the owner of the hand, Takuya was met by Uehara, no, Hana as she wanted him to call her, smiling back at him. She didn't let him get anything for himself as soon as the feast started. When he asked why, she said something about thanking her savior, which Takuya was doubtful about.

'Just be grateful and smile, Takuya, just smile...' following his own advice, Takuya smiled before looking over at Kazama again, figuring it was time to bring the love bird out of his teen romance, "Hey, Kazama, have you thought about what you wanna get from the Exchange List?"

Hearing Takuya ask a question, Kazama had looked over quickly anyway, but as soon as he heard what the question was, the boy looked a little more seriously at Takuya. Sasaki also looked over, seemingly wanting to be in on the contents of the coming conversation.

Kazama started thinking for a few minutes before finally, he spoke, "I'm pretty sure I have an idea on what I want, why?"

"Ah, I don't mean anything by it. I just thought I could give you some advice on what to pick, is all," shrugging his shoulders Takuya carried on, "Though, I guess it wouldn't be needed as you've read the novel as well, huh?" Takuya genuinely was just curious on what Kazama was going to pick, he wasn't trying to snoop. Feeling bad for being so distrustful, Kazama went to speak but he was stopped by Takuya's raised hand, "Don't worry about it, I'm sure you'll make the right decision for yourself. Just show me tomorrow," Takuya finished it off with a smile before going back to eating.

Kazama looked conflicted for a moment, especially when he got a glare from Sasaki for being so vague with his fellow teammate and savior.

Before he could even get through half of the skewered kebab, Takuya felt a hand poke his shoulder a few times. Sighing a little, Takuya turned his head to Hana who looked at him with a slightly unsure expression, "Uhhh...I might need some help with these Exchanges...I haven't read many light novels or manga, and I haven't watched many anime or movies for that matter either," she took a nervous gulp before putting on puppy eyes while looking at Takuya, "So, Takuya-kun...can you help me pick, please?"

Takuya knew he would be able to sort out what she wanted to exchange; God knows he's watched so much anime, read so many books and manga, and watched so many movies that he could easily pinpoint something she liked but...Takuya could tell she wasn't asking him for any objective reasons other than 'I can spend more time with Takuya-kun'.

Nonetheless, he smiled and nodded his head, 'Can't have my team dying and if I can help turn Hana into a useful fighter we'll have a better chance at surviving the next mission,' knowing his thought process, while very calculative, was correct and just, Takuya asked a question, "What kind of fighter do you want to be? Close Combat, Ranged Combat, a Mix of both, or do you want to stay away from the fighting and become a Scout of some sort? Think about what you want to be, then tell me so I can figure something out for you."

Hana nodded her head resolutely before going into a cute-looking thinking position which looked both adorable and serious at the same time.

Meanwhile, Takuya continued eating his skewer, knowing he'd get her answer soon enough as even though Hana seemed a bit...odd, he knew she had a decent head on her shoulders and coming from her specific business-related background, she was probably brought up to think over hard decisions quickly.

True to Takuya's thoughts of her, Hana answered soon enough, "I want to be a Ranged-Combatant, Fighting face-to-face with my opponent just isn't my forte, or at least I don't think it would be," she stopped for a second with a timid smile on her face before quickly carrying on, "Along that line of thought, I think it'd be best to go Magical rather than Bow or Gun, as well. Though, Mikasa was telling me we can get Genetic Mutation, no?" Hana was completely different right now, and Takuya couldn't help but think she looked stunningly beautiful while she was this serious, but nonetheless, he nodded his head at her question and she carried on, "Then would it be too much to ask if I want a Genetic Mutation that can both perform magic while also being stronger than a normal human? I feel that being physically weak would be my death in some worlds."

Stunned she'd thought it through this much, Takuya thought for a while on what would seem to suit her before answering, "Well, no, not really. There's definitely magic in the Exchange List that could temporarily enhance your strength as well. If you want to go pure magic, the Elf Genetic Mutation would suit you best. Magic with a stronger body would be something like a Vampire. Either one has decent potential, with the Elf Genetic Mutation probably being able to evolve into High Elf Genetic Mutation and other variants of Elf, and Vampire going from Vampire Baron, or Baroness in your case, all the way up to Vampire Queen or maybe even Vampire Empress."

Takuya stated in a matter-of-fact tone as he continued looking at Hana who was still serious but because of Takuya staring at her so intently, she had flushed red a little but overall she'd kept herself together.

Nodding gratefully at Takuya's advice, Hana went back into thinking-mode, going quiet and giving Takuya some time to finish off his kebab skewer.

"Takuya! Let's get drunk!" but Himiko had other ideas as she burst into the room with beer and other kinds of alcohol cradled in her arms.

'There's seriously no rest for the wicked, is there?' sighing, Takuya caught a beer that came flying at him. Letting out a sigh for the umpteenth time in the past few hours, Takuya cracked open the beer knowing he was going to need it to get through this feast with his new team.

. . .

Waking up with a slight headache, Takuya looked around and saw his team spread around Rin's room. The drinking last night...well, let's just say it got out of hand.

A quick rundown would be the Hana kept getting annoyed at Takuya and Himiko drinking together, so she joined in under the guise that she was the same age as Takuya, so she should be able to drink if he can. This led to Kazama and Sasaki joining in as well, and when Rin came back he joined in as well.

So, the quick story was; they all got smashed.

'There were some...'events' that happened which now that I'm remembering them are, just, so incredibly embarrassing...' lamenting his behavior while he was drunk, Takuya stood up quietly before walking over the bodies strewn across the floor.

His destination; the sink in the kitchen next to the living room.

Once there, he splashed some water on his face before getting a glass and filling it up with water. He raided the cupboards next and found some pills to ease the inflammation of his brain, washing them down with the water.

Despite having a high alcohol tolerance there was no way he could beat an enhanced person like Himiko, so Takuya was truly paying for trying to keep up with her. Especially towards the end when he started drinking the truly strong stuff with her because the beer ran out and neither person could be bothered to summon more from their own rooms, and by that point, Rin had continuously tried to stop the two of them from drinking any more.

Luckily, Takuya had a quick recovery ability when it came to 'poisons' in his system, so he knew he'd be fine within a few minutes.

Finishing off his water, Takuya started making himself a coffee before looking at the time on the clock next to him.

If when they were drinking was night time, then now was around 9 or 10 O'Clock in the morning. Takuya thought it was truly weird and confusing that the place still kept time despite there not being a day and night cycle.

Even the room where the exchanges were made was constantly lit up, with 'God' or the white orb in the center, constantly lighting up the area around it with a glaring light.

Soon his coffee was done and he poured it into a mug. He picked the mug up and took a few gulps of the strong black coffee, 'Mhmmm...I'm truly glad you can get the best of the best in this Dimension...Kinda like Player Benefits, right? You risk your life on death-defying missions and you can get a nice cup of coffee,' chuckling quietly at his own joke, Takuya went and sat among the 'corpses' while enjoying the peace while it lasted.

Takuya knew the peace wouldn't last long because they were deciding their Exchanges today and after that, they would probably be showing off their new powers. Though Takuya didn't mind that as he was incredibly excited to finally buy the things he was looking at last night.

'I have so many points and enough Rank Rewards to buy some good stuff...I should also close the gap between me and Himiko. Let's see how she manhandles me after my enhancements~'

Yes, that's right, an Assassin is holding a grudge. Takuya's pride was hit hard when he was suppressed so easily by Himiko so he knew he needed to get back at her today.

And he had just the Genetic Mutation for it.

Knocking him out of his thoughts on 'revenge' Takuya felt one of his teammates slowly waking from unconsciousness. Looking over at who it was, it seemed to be Kazama who was in a precarious position with Sasaki. Knowing he was probably in a worse state than himself, Takuya let the poor kid go and didn't tease him relentlessly.

Kazama, realizing he had a hand on his childhood friend's butt, quickly shot away from her and stood up before looking around to see if anyone had seen what he was doing. To his horror, he saw Takuya sitting there drinking from a mug like some kind of villain, his green eyes squinted like a cat's when they gleefully play with a mouse. But to his immediate relief and slight confusion, Takuya didn't say anything and only finished off his mug of coffee before getting up and heading to the door of Rin's room.

He had to shower and wash Himiko's and Hana's perfume out of his clothes.

. . .

Looking over at the last approaching person, Takuya thanked God that they finally turned up. Kazama, the last person to turn up, was slightly red because of the looks focused on him. When he met Takuya's gaze, he averted his eyes quickly, knowing the assassin was the only person to see his 'vulgar' actions this morning.

In truth, Takuya didn't think it was that much of a big deal, though he did relish in the fact he'd have plenty more ammo to embarrass the two lovebirds now that this had happened. He wouldn't tell Kazama that Sasaki was awake before Kazama and in fact allowed him to touch her butt.

'I'll save that for later~' evilly chuckling in his mind, he looked over at Kazama, "Thank God you're finally here. I was getting impatient on choosing my Exchange Items," Mikasa, Uehara and even Himiko nodded alongside Takuya, agreeing with what he said. Only Sasaki seemed to disagree with him, glaring at Takuya for daring to admonish her beloved childhood friend.

Takuya ignored her and let Rin speak as he was standing in front of the group.

"Okay, so right now we're going to buy from the Exchange List. Buy what you think is best for you but also keep the team in mind, okay? And if you need any help, just ask and we can discuss it as a team. That's it, go on and start buying," with that, Rin turned around and starting looking through God's Exchange List.

I was the second, having rushed there as quickly as possible, knowing what I wanted and wanting it right now.

After scrolling, I finally found what I wanted, or at least the pre-requisite to what I wanted.

Demon Baron Genetic Mutation

Rating 68

Applicable to most missions. Has access to Demonic Power and most Demon Magic. Rank Baron increases strength moderately and emotional state can increase power further. The owner will not be affected by holy water. Requires a rank D-Rank reward and 1000 points.

Takuya quickly brought this and was lifted into the air by a beam of light. Particles of light slowly drifted into him, with three main colors being slowly fed into him; black, purple, and red. Takuya could feel his body changing, increasingly getting stronger, faster and more filled with vitality as the particles of colored light flowed into him.

Just before he was lowered to the ground, Takuya felt a few strands of energy lying in his stomach. This energy felt evil and desolate, malevolent by nature and something purely meant for destruction. But overall, it felt powerful like something that was a cut above the rest.

Takuya, of course, knew what this was; it was Demonic Power.

Baron-Level Demonic Power

Rating 65

Applicable to most missions that require combat ability. This ability gives the Player access to Demonic Power and the ability to use it for either Magic or to temporarily enhance their physical stats. Though it is a lower-tier energy compared to Mana or Ki, it has a much higher Destructive Output than both those energies combined. Vast amounts of emotion can increase the intensity of the energy and increase its efficacy beyond its current rank. Requires D-Rank and 800 points (or it can be gained through the Demon Genetic Mutation line).

Feeling his improved body, Takuya didn't take long to go back to the Exchange List to get the next two Upgrades he needed. He quickly found them as they were under the Demon Baron Genetic Mutation.

Demon Baron Genetic Mutation (Sparda Bloodline Variant)

Rating 82

The Sparda Bloodline is a renowned demonic bloodline descended from The Legendary Dark Knight Sparda and his human wife, Eva. Sparda was an immensely powerful demon known for his great power and swordsmanship who turned his back on the Demon hordes in the aid of humanity. This bloodline merges with the Demon Baron Genetic Mutation for progression in the Demon Genetic Mutation line and provides enhanced physical attributes, especially Cell Vitality and Muscle Density, and greatly boosted Demonic Energy over a generic Demon bloodline but at an increased rank cost. The owner will not be affected by Holy Water. Requires 2 D-Rank Rewards, 1000 Points and Demon Baron Genetic Mutation (Non-variant)

Demon Count Genetic Mutation (Sparda Bloodline Variant)

Rating 89

A further rank enhancement of the Sparda Bloodline which gives the Player an even further increase to their physical prowess and Demonic Power. Rank Count provides the Ability to activate a Devil Trigger Mode under extreme Emotional turmoil which substantially increases physical attributes and greatly boosts the intensity of their Demonic Power. Rank Count also increases the power of the Bloodline and the powers given by it. The owner will not be affected by Holy Water. Requires 2 C-Rank Rewards, 2600 Points and the Demon Baron Genetic Mutation (Sparda Bloodline Variant).

Buying both of these, Takuya felt himself being lifted up into the air by the beam of light once again, but this time the particles of light were almost overwhelming in their quantity and they were followed by a deep aura of desolation and tyranny.

It was safe to say his Genetic Mutation was a cut above the rest of the D-Rank and C-Rank Mutations.

. . .

Takuya's Score after his purchases:

15300 Points

S = 0

A = 0

B = 0

C = 1

D = 2