13 Power Gap

Issei was bombarded with notifications when he woke up and opened his eyes. First, he looked around him and saw that he was inside the small house that he had seen near the training ground, which meant he was in a safe place.

'Getting exhausted and falling unconscious like that..' Issei realised how foolish it was. At that moment, he only wanted to give his all to defeat his enemy.

Truly, Vali's ability to divide someone's power in half even for a moment pissed him a lot. The only reason he was able to keep up and outmatch Vali's strength was because he had learnt Touki, but even that was eventually getting halved by his ridiculous powers.

[You have attained the Heavenly Martial Arts technique Kaio ken by mastering your Touki. The Kaio Ken amplifies your speed, power, mental acuity and physical prowess for short bursts of high intensity.]

[Your Strength has increased by 16 Points.]

[Your Endurance has increased by 17 Points.]

[Your Agility has increased by 22 Points.]

[Your Intelligence has increased by 12 Points.]

[Your Wisdom has increased by 10 Points.]

[You have leveled up four times during the course of action.]

'So many stats.' Issei was baffled with his eyes going wide, 'It must be similar for that bastard to gain so many Stats as well. He has the Game, after all.'

[No, the System has nothing to do with it, except for the level ups. It's the result of your own Efforts and Will power. You had triggered your passive Skill Evolution during the fight, which enables you to adapt to your opponent's strength and speed.]

'Hm.' Issei nodded with an small smile, 'Thank you, Isis.'

[You're welcome.]

Issei pressed his hands on his sides to get up from the bed, but then he felt the sheath of his sword on his right side.

An shiver crawled up Issei's spine when he remembered the stunt he had pulled just before falling asleep.

"You." He annoyingly grabbed the Katana and brought it to his face. He didn't know what to say, but he continued staring at the sword with an irritated twitch in his eyes.

"I didn't wanted to Kill Vali, you know?" He finally said with an sigh, "Don't do that again when I'm fighting someone as a part of training."

"What?" Issei frowned when he got a response from the Katana, "You're saying I was so serious that you thought I wanted to kill him? Why would I kill someone who has done nothing wrong to me?"

"I see." Wukong voiced and Issei turned to see that he was already in the room, "You've started showing the signs of insanity."

"What?" Issei scowled in confusion.

"You're speaking to your sword." Wukong pointed out, if the kid had not realised it yet.

Issei's eyes went wide in realisation and immediately shifted his eyes to the Katana in his hand, "Ugh.." He grumbled at the insanity, "Well." He took a deep breath to calm his emotions, "Its not actually talking to me."

"The Sword has taken so many lives throughout the Ancient history that it has formed a sentience of his own." Wukong nodded in comprehension, "Don't let it get to your mind though. The sword might tempt you to walk the path of exile and death."

"Not possible." Issei scoffed in response and challengingly looked at the Black sheathed sword, "I'm not letting anyone control my mind, not anymore."

"Anymore?" Wukong raised an brow in confusion. He moved to make an herbal tea from the ingredients that were already inside the room.

"Well, I was kinda blessed by Odin when I was seven or eight years old I guess." Issei replied with an nonchalant shrug, "The Blessing developed into an Curse and kinda made me an idiot who only loved boobs."

Wukong started laughing at imagining how the boy must've been, "Typical Odin." He chuckled and passed a cup of tea to Issei, "How are you feeling now?"

"Much better." Issei replied and nodded in gratitude for the tea. He sipped on it and felt the herbs amazingly sooth his mind and body, "You gotta teach me how to make this tea."

"It's all about the herbs and leaves that are found on this mountain and rarely at the other places." Wukong replied, "I'll lend some of it to you, but it should only be consumed when you're completely exhausted."

Issei nodded in acknowledgment as he continued to sip on his tea.

"Where is Vali?" Issei questioned when he realised that the silver haired man was missing.

"He's sparing with Bikou outside." Wukong replied, "He did suffer injuries, but unlike you, he didn't completely exhert himself in the fight."

"Yeah, I feel like he could've easily defeated me if he was fighting seriously from the start." Issei nodded with an serious expression.

"I want to see how they are fighting." Issei stated as he got up from the bed and excitedly ran out of the house.

Wukong shook his head with an tired expression, 'Battle junkies.' He followed after Issei.

"What is that!?" Issei shouted loudly in bafflement by pointing his hand at Vali.

Vali and Bikou who heard Issei's voice, stopped their fight and turned to look at him.

"Your bestie has woken up, Vali!" Bikou cheered by teasingly grinning at Vali.

"Shut up." Vali groaned.

The thing Issei was pointing at was an Vali equipped in White Draconic armour with golden fangs and Blue orbs. He looked strong, extremely stronger than when he was fighting him.

"Humph." Vali scoffed and turned to face Issei properly, "This is the Balance Breaker of the Dividing Gear, the True form of the White Dragon Emperor."

"Well, not exactly." Albion muttered, but he was ignored.

"Why didn't you use it against me in our fight?" Issei demanded in frustration by clenching his fists.

"You were simply not worth it." Vali answered with an smug tone in his voice, "And don't think you defeated me in your fight, you weren't even close."

"That I know." Issei grumbled by glaring at Vali, "Let's fight."

Bikou extended his staff to stop Issei right at his place, "Wait for your turn, kiddo." He stated with an toothy grin, "Watch and learn from how the veterans fight."

"He's right." Wukong stated while standing next to Issei, "You have recovered, but you need to give your body a proper rest. You can learn a lot from watching them fight."

"Well, that works too." Issei shrugged and followed Wukong to sit under a tree to spectate the fight, "So, how long was I asleep?"

"Two days." Wukong replied.

"T-Two?" Issei's eyebrows twitched in disbelief, "How could I sleep for two days?"

"Not only had you exhausted your physical body, but you had also drained a lot of Ki during the fight." Wukong answered, "I believe tomorrow is going to be your last day then?"

"Yeah, I need to go back." Issei nodded with an disappointed sigh, "I wish I could've stayed longer."

"Don't worry, I'll teach you all I can within a single day." Wukong replied with an meaningful grin, "For now, let's watch my Ancestor kick some Hakuryuuko ass."

"Kick his ass, Bikou!" Issei cheered.

"Oya, I have an supporter." Bikou teased Vali with an mischievous grin, "How many do you have, Vali?"

"Kick his ass, Vali!" Issei shouted again.

"Whose side are you on?" Both Monkey and the Dragon shouted simultaneously.

"Humanity!" Issei replied with an laugh.

Both of them growled at how easily Issei was trolling them and focused on fighting each other.

Issei took this opportunity to check his Status.

[Name: Issei Hyoudo

Level: 21

Age: 17

Race: Human

Title: The Lost Cause

Strength: 72

Endurance: 76

Agility: 79

Intelligence: 66

Wisdom: 76

Luck: 30

Attribute Points: 42

System Points: 8100.]

'Aren't my base Stats closer to Vali now?' Issei was stupefied by how much he had grown in a single fight, 'And not just my physique, I think I can utilise most of my Martial arts knowledge with additional techniques like Renewal Taekwondo and Touki.'

"What are you going to teach me by the way?" Issei curiously turned to Wukong.

"Sage Arts." The elder monkey replied, "You can call it Senjutsu. No more details now, focus on the fight."

"Yeah." Issei nodded and followed the advise of his new mentor. He stopped thinking and focused on thier moves and what abilities they were using.

Surprisingly, Vali was having an hard time because his opponent was using his staff to close the gap without coming in contact with him, which meant he couldn't use Divide on Bikou.

Still, Vali was holding his ground by easily enduring the Bikou's attacks and counterattacking at the same time, thanks to his armour's Endurance.

Vali was occasionally shooting blasts of Magic at Bikou, which further irritated Issei, because he hadn't used that against him. Issei didn't feel good knowing that Vali was largely holding back against him, because that showed how much of a power gap was there between them.

'I need to get stronger.' Issei clenched his fists. If Vali could defeat him so easily, how much effort would it take Yuuki to crush him down when he realises that he's a threat?

~

AN: Sorry, couldn't update yesterday because of my busy schedule.