Chapter 11: Sparring and a Year of Improvements

Another year has passed. Ryuken and Rias are now 11 years old. And for the past year, Rias has joined Ryuken in all his training except for sword practice, mainly because she has no talent in it. Also, Rias does not wear the magical weights that Ryuken always wears. During this year, Rias has polished a lot of her fighting techniques, both melee and ranged. And at this moment, Rias and Ryuken are free-sparring with hand-to-hand combat techniques.

Side stepping a right straight, Ryuken throws a left hook to the right side of Rias ribs.

"Ugh."

"How many times do I have to tell you, don't over commit to any strike, even if you're sure it will hit."

Although the pain causes Rias to grunt, it does not slow down her assault. Correcting her posture, she unleashed a combination of 2 jabs, a straight, a left hook, and finishes with a right uppercut.

Bobbing his head away from the jabs and the straight, Ryuken ducked under the hook. Unfortunately for him, Ryuken was not expecting the uppercut.

"Ha! Got you!" Shouted Rias.

"Not bad, but too slow." Said Ryuken calmly.

Shifting his head to the right, Ryuken was able to avoid Rias' uppercut. Taking advantage of Rias out stretched posture, Ryuken rushed in to clinch. And before Rias could correct her posture, Ryuken tripped and tackled her to the ground. With her right arm out stretched over her head and her left arm pinned between herself and Ryuken, Rias found herself unable to break free from Ryuken's pin.

"Alright, I think that about does it." Said Ryuken, waiting for Rias to yield.

Struggling ferociously, Rias' reluctance to admit defeat is evident.

"Damn it! Ryu-Kun get off of me!" Shouted Rias, frustrated at her loss.

"*Chuckle* Not until I hear those, oh so sweet, words." Replied Ryuken in a taunting tone.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

Having screamed her lungs out in frustration Rias finally let her body relax. Using her extended right hand, she tapped the floor of the training ground 3 times. Which signaled the end of the spar.

Separating himself from Rias, Ryuken tried to hide his grin and failed spectacularly. Seeing Rias pout after each loss, made training her worth it.

"You're really cute when you pout." Said Ryuken with an obnoxious grin on his face.

At his words, Rias flushed and turned her head away. Only Rias would know if it was out of irritation or embarrassment.

"Oh, shut up." Said Rias with a huff. "Why are you so good at this, anyway? I should have won at least once by now."

"Okay, slow down little lady."

Rias frowned at the form of address. Ryuken only calls her "little lady" when he is about to correct and lecture her at the same time.

"First of all, I've been training my close quarters combat since I was 5 years old." Began Ryuken. "And by 7, Pop told me he didn't have anything left to teach me. So, basically, I'm a genius."

At that moment, Rias wanted nothing more than to punch Ryuken in his face.

"But seriously, why are you in such a rush?" Asked Ryuken.

"Because I am the [King], I must be the strongest in my peerage." Said Rias in frustration.

Hearing Rias reasoning, Ryuken could only sigh. Walking in front of Rias, He raised his hand and... flicked her in the forehead.

"Ow!" Yelped Rias, while covering her forehead with her hands. "What was that for?"

"For such an intelligent girl, you can say some pretty stupid things." Said Ryuken in exasperation. "Is close quarters combat the only measure of strength? If we were to fight all out, I would lose."

"Are you trying to comfort me, Ryu-Kun?" Asked Rias.

"Of course not." Said Ryuken bluntly. "In terms of bloodline, yours is more destructive than mine and you have greater range. In terms of demonic power capacity, you beat me by a lot."

When Rias began training with Ryuken, her demonic power capacity was at high-level middle-class. Whereas Ryuken was at the peak of low-level middle-class. However, in the year since they started training together, Ryuken's capacity has only raise to that of a middle-level Middle-class devil. Rias on the other hand, her capacity has increased to a middle-level high-class devil.

Though there are many factors behind the large disparity between the 2 11-year-olds. The 2 biggest factors are: Ryuken is only half-devil; the other is that before this year Rias had never trained. With her potential stimulated, Rias' improvement speed sky rocketed.

Rias could not help but smile with pride.

*Thwack*

"Ow!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Riri." Ridiculed Ryuken after flicking Rias again. "You still don't use all that power efficiently, yet. Right now, the only thing you do with your [Power of Destruction] is shoot at your opponent in a big blob."

Rias' bloodline ability, [Power of Destruction], is the bloodline power of the Great King Family, Bael. Rias inherited this power from her mother, Venelana, who was originally from the Bael House. The [Power of Destruction] is exactly as it seems; it destroys whatever it comes in contact with down to a conceptual level.

"If you're so smart." Began Rias with a pout. "Then how should I be using my bloodline power."

"Well... you gotta use your imagination." Said Ryuken. "I've seen you watching anime and reading manga, why not try to adapt what you see into your own attacks. With your demonic power control, it shouldn't be too hard."

*Boom!!!*

Rias felt as if an explosion went off inside of her head. She stared at Ryuken as if he just grew a second head then hugged him fiercely.

"Ryu-Kun, are you a genius?" Asked Rias in excitement. "I want to open up your head and see how your brain works."

"I'll pass, thank you." Ryuken replied with a smile.

*Muah*

Suddenly, Ryuken felt something soft and slightly damp on his left cheek, causing him to freeze.

Turning his head slowly, Ryuken could see Rias blushing all the way to her ears. A blush so crimson that it was hard to distinguish her face from her hair. Seeing Rias like this, Ryuken grinned widely.

"Riri, I know I'm hot and all," Began Ryuken before he continued with a teasing grin. "But you need to pay attention to the time and the place. The training ground is a place for training."

Hearing Ryuken, Rias' embarrassment quickly morphed in to anger.

Kicking Ryuken In the shin then turning away, Rias bolted for the training ground's exit. Shouting all the while. "Ryu-Kun is stupid!!! A big stupid-head!!!"

Ryuken released uproarious laughter that Rias could hear even in the changing room. Taking a moment to calm down, Ryuken began to think about the not-so-distant future.

'It's been almost 2 years since I started wearing these fuckin' weights, huh' Thought Ryuken as he looked at his wrists and ankles covered in spell circles.

'Something tells me that Okita-Sensei's training is gonna get even harder when these things come off."

Ryuken did not know why, but his instincts were warning him.

Throwing that thought to the back of his mind, Ryuken started thinking about his own progress during the last year. He's been able to extend the range of his bloodline ability to 40 feet (12 m). With his hands guiding the petals movement, they can keep up with the top speed of the average middle-level high-class devil.

"It looks like I'm never gonna be able to kill my enemies from 1000 feet away with a single sword." Ryuken thought aloud in disappointment. "I really wanted to be like one of those Xianxia guys with a flying sword... Even if that flying sword was broken down into 1000 cherry blossom petal shaped pieces."

On top of that, Ryuken lasted 3 and a half hours in Souji's latest [Sacred Gear] endurance test. This feat is significant on 2 fronts. 1st, the time Ryuken can maintain his [Blade Blacksmith] has almost tripled over the last year. And 2nd, His skill with the sword has increased as he does not take nearly as much damage as he used to in the free-sparring sessions with Souji, which has directly benefited the stamina consumption during the spars.

"I might be over thinking this," Said Ryuken, letting his inner thoughts leak, "it kinda feels like Okita-Sensei has been trying to seriously injure me lately. But that's probably just my imagination."

***

*Sneeze!*

At that moment, in the Lucifer Estate, Souji Okita sneezed without warning.

"I wonder who's talking about me?"

***

'Well, I guess it's time to go back home.'

With that thought, Ryuken made his way to the changing room. Taking off his normal training outfit, Ryuken stopped before getting in the shower... to check himself out in the mirror.

Looking in the mirror, he saw a handsome boy with deep brown eyes, long black hair in individual braids pulled into a ponytail, and caramel skin tone who stood 5 feet 1 inch (approx. 155 cm) tall.

"Damn... who's that handsome little mother fucker?" Asked Ryuken with his usual narcissistic tone.

"Ryuken!!!! I know you are staring at yourself in the mirror again. If you do not hurry, I will not be here when you come out." Shouted Rias, used to Ryuken's modus operandi.

" Fine... Fine... I'm coming!!!" Shouted Ryuken in reply as he quickly changed into casual clothes.

Hurrying out of the changing room, Ryuken saw Rias standing with her arms crossed wearing a spaghetti strap dress that emphasized her curves.

Scanning Rias figure without attempting to hide it, Ryuken thought to himself, "Damn, devils sure do grow up fast. Give her 4 or 5 more years and she'll have tits like Venelana-Obasama.'

Seeing the appreciation in Ryuken's gaze, that was somehow devoid of lust, Rias felt a bit conflicted.

'He obviously finds me attractive, but why is there no possessiveness in his eyes. Does he not want me?' Thought Rias with a blush crawling up her cheeks. 'What am I thinking, I need to focus on canceling this arranged marriage before anything else.'

Shaking her head to get rid of those thoughts, Rias looked at Ryuken and said, "Hey Ryu-Kun, Let's go play in the Human world, I've always wanted to go visit Japan."

Shaking his head at Rias, Ryuken replied, "I don't mind. But we gotta wait until I get permission from Okita-Sensei. I don't know what he'll do to me if I skip his training."

Just thinking about the punishment he would receive for skipping Souji's training, Ryuken began to shudder.

Rias crossed her arms under her growing breasts and pouted.

"And how long will that take?"

Ryuken's feet stopped while he pondered the answer to Rias' question.

"Let's see, the weights come off in 3 weeks. Then..." Ryuken's instincts foreshadowed pain and suffering as he thought about the aftermath of removing the weights.

"Then?" Asked Rias, curious as to why Ryuken stopped.

"Then..." Ryuken shuddered before continuing. "My life turns into hell mode until Okita-Sensei is done with me."