2 CHAPTER 2
Issei woke up next day early in the morning before he usually did which confused his parents greatly.
Issei was not a morning person and it was very difficult to wake him up.
He had breakfast with his parents and then went to attend school like his usual routine.
In school, his teacher was a little surprised that he didn't even once glanced at her boobs but she thought that his behaviour changed due to his mother's scoldings.
The classes were very boring for him as he already knew all the stuff from his memories as Liam.
He just sat at his desk with his head on his elbow, whenever the teacher asked him something he would easily answer them, this caused the teachers to feel more annoyed as they couldn't say anything to him.
Unknown to everyone He was pondering seriously about the current situation he was in…
'What should I do? I don't want to just wait for seven years to meet rias, I want to unlock my sacred gear as soon as possible but that isn't really possible for now, I'm sure Vali is already wiping out mountains.' He said in his mind to himself.
'I can only do physical training for now to at least not be as weak as Issei when he became a devil.'
'I remember the training regime and martial arts techniques from Liam's memories, I will focus on strengthning my body for now I guess…'
He spent lunch break eating alone because he had no friends, and he thought that these kids were annoying, having memories from Liam he had quite a mature mind, so being surrounded by kids didn't help his case.
He had no qualms from being alone, instead it was more peaceful that way…
Apparently, Irina has already moved to the Vatican city with her family to train, and the other members of perverted trio still haven't met him.
After the school was over, and he arrived back at home, he told his parents that he was going out to play with his friends for a while.
They obviously didn't stop him and allowed him to go with an encouraging smile, looking at their smiles he felt a little bad but not that much, if he became strong then in the future he will be able to protect them, so he didn't said anything and started walking towards the park with a new determination….
Right now he was standing near a tree while stretching his muscles a little…
He decided that he will follow a basic workout routine until his body became strong enough to practice martial arts…
He knew that he shouldn't strain his 10 year old body too much but he really didn't had any other choice…
He knew that he will have to fight many strong and powerful opponents in the future who can crush his current self like insect, this gave him even more motivation to work hard…
He noticed that his personality was slightly affected by his boosted gear, when he imagined getting beaten black and blue by his opponents then a genuine feeling of disgust appeared in his stomach… No, he wanted to dominate the battlefield, he will be the one to crush others…
He placed his hands on the ground and leaned forward to do some push-ups.
He knew that push-ups were the most basic exercise everyone should, it affects nearly every muscle of upper body.
"1.. 2.. 3….. 4....5...…6"
With every push-up he felt his hands giving up but he continued to perserve and finally…
"…10"
His arms could no longer take any weight and he plopped down on the ground with beads of sweat rolling down his scalp.
"I *huff* never thought *huff* that *huff* I'm so weak." He said with some difficulty while trying to catch his breath.
He took five minutes to catch his breath and then slowly sat up from the ground.
He couldn't even move his arms properly for now, so he decided to do some squats for now.
Due to still being exhausted by his previous exercise, he could only due five squats before he fell down on the ground with a thud and couldn't move anymore.
'This will take some time before I can even due a full basic routine without exhausting myself.' He thought while breathing heavily.
But his mind was blown away when after 10 minutes he felt his body fully rejuvenated and good to go!!
"what?!! What is happening??!!!" He exclaimed as he moved his arms and legs, to his awe and amazement he discovered that he was no longer sore.
He clenched his hand and felt that he could try to repeat the exercise again…
'Is it some sort of buff that I got when both the my souls got merged' He could only think of this single possibility as the reason for his superhuman recovery.
'Well, it only make it more convenient for me, if this was not a fluke then it is really a great boost to my training.' He thought happily and started doing another set of push-ups.
He again got on the ground and started again "1..2….3... ...10"
He again plopped down on the ground with the same condition as before.
He again did squats after that, he then proceeded to wait for 10 minutes to see if the same phenomena will happen again.
10 minutes passed like a breeze of wind and Issei was already standing on the ground without even a hint of exhaustion on his face.
"So it really wasn't a fluke huh? Hmm, with this I am sure that I can start to practice martial arts in few months…"
He spent another hour repeating the same routine, after he felt that it was getting dark, he decided to stop in order to not make his parents worry about him.
The distance of his home from the park was around a 700 meters, to use his time in a more efficient way he decided to run till he reached home.
Issei arrived at the entrance of his house, breathing heavily he decided to wait a few moments to catch his breath before going inside.
"Good evening Ise, you were outside for quite some time, I hope you had fun" His mother's voice came from the kitchen area while he was making his way to his room upstairs.
"I was playing with my friends, I'm going to take a shower before dinner."
He replied while he continued without stopping.
He took a cold shower to rinse off all the sweat and odor from his body.
Issei walked out of the shower with a towel on his head.
He put on some fresh clothes and moved downstairs for dinner.
His parents were already sitting on the table, he also took a seat and started eating from his plate.
"How was your day, Ise?" His father asked trying to do casual talk.
"It was good, I had fun playing in the park." Issei replied with a smile on his face.
"Just wake us up if you feel headache again today." Her mother said, she was still a little worried over what happened yesterday.
"I will wake up mother if I feel anything" Issei nodded while smiling at her mother.
Miki felt that her son was a little different than usual, either it was his way of speaking or how he responds to her.
This made her even more worried over his well-being, but found nothing unusual with his physical condition, she at least wanted to take him to doctor but Gorou and Issei both convinced her that he was fine.
After dinner, he went back to his own room and plopped down on his bed…
'I think that this ability allows my cells to create more glucose in a short amount of time while reducing the release of lactic acid.' He evaluated his abilities and then started pondering again….
'Is it because my entity is basically a fusion of two existences?'
If that was the reason, then does that mean that his bodily functions speed and recovery would also be doubled? What about his IQ? Is it also doubled?
Questions started pouring in his mind with this sudden discovery, this discovery opened many new possibilities for the future.
But isn't it still absurd for his body to rejuvenate fully in only 10 minutes?
What about his learning speed?
He immediately got up from his bed and sneaked into his father's work room, he took a random book out of the bookshelf…
He read it three times from start to the end over the span of 30 minutes until he felt that he could remember the content of the book clearly from word to word.
He closed the book and went back to his own room silently without uttering a word.
He entered in his bed, pulled over the blanket and got inside, then shouted in his mind..
'Whaaat??!!!!'
What is going on here? That is the most absurd thing he has experienced in his whole life.
Three times, he read for only three fucking times!!!!
He calmed himself down with some effort after a few minutes and then started feeling excited.
'This just means that I have gotten some buffs when my souls fused.'
'My best guess would be that after my soul merged then this body also started to adapt to the new soul.
Issei was feeling giddy right now, not only does he most likely have boasted gear but also such terrifying abilities which will only help him to get stronger fast.
'Now I will just have to train.'
—––––
———–––––––
Two years have passed since Issei has started training, no matter how much exhausting workout he did, it only took him around 10 minutes to recover.
He decided to abuse this ability and train like crazy whenever he had time and his parents weren't watching.
In the first month of training, he trained his body to adjust to the heavy amount of workout without exhausting.
Previously, Issei's body was very weak and thus it took him a month to strengthen it.
After that began the hellish workout and self torturing, he would wake up early in the morning and do some light workout while at the same time making sure his parents were not awake.
He sprinted to school, and worked hardest in the gym class, but the real training will begin in the park at afternoon.
Earlier he used to do 50 push-ups, sit-ups, squats and pulls-ups which he thought was quite impressive considering his age.
But his body got accustomed to that very fast, resulting in him to double the number.
After every increase, it would only take him a week to get accustomed to it until one day he felt like the basic training was not enough now.
He changed it to more complex ones like handstand push-ups, one arm push-ups, etc.
This gave him a feeling that he had leveled up of some sort and has reached the next stage.
He again increased from the scratch, doing 10 of them at first before moving onto bigger numbers.
After two years now, he is 12 years old and his physique was obviously very good.
Contrary to his expectations, his muscles didn't grow up to be buffed and bulky, instead they were very slim and lean.
His parents noticed this but didn't question him that much, after all it's not a bad thing to be fit, right?
Today, he instinctively felt like he had trained barely enough to unlock his sacred gear, he didn't knew from where did he got this feeling but it was like it was coming from his very Conciousness.
He remembered from the anime that Issei imitated Kamehameha from DBZ to unlock his gear.
He chosed to opt for a more undirect approach, he sat on his bed at night in mediation and focused all of his thoughts on his left arm…
He continued trying for half an hour until he felt some tingling sensation which was followed by a burning sensation from his left arm.
He opened his eyes to see that his left arm had a red gauntlet with a green gem in the middle of the back of the palm.
He clenched his left hand which had the gauntlet on it and said in a low and clear voice…
"Ddraig, you there?"
…..
No reply came, he sighed internally as he already expected this 'I haven't trained enough yet, I haven't even unlocked the basic form of boosted gear.'
He thought with some dissapointment and said again "Ddraig, I know that you can't communicate with me due to my lack of strength but I know you can hear me, I am in no place to ask anything but I have to be selfish this time…"
"… I request you to conceal my aura so that the supernatural beings won't be able to perceive that I have a sacred gear."
He requested to his partner, even though his pride was bigger then a mountain, he still knew that he was no match for supernatural beings for now.
Issei wasn't worried about the fact that Ddraig couldn't hear him or will ignore his request, after all the thing he asked for is only to ensure his survival.
Sure enough, he could feel an invisible energy sorrounding his body, he felt restrained but at the same time nothing at all.
'The fact that emotions will help a sacred gear grow is most probably a shortcut rias told Issei in anime to increase his Strength quickly, I will unlock it fully with only training and will power.'
He thought in his mind and then went to sleep, he only sleep for about 5 hours after all that physical exercise, his body is recovered very fast but he still gets mentally exhausted from all the training.
…
Issei was standing in the dojo he remembered from Liam's memories, this is the place where Liam learnt martial arts and his master's home.
"What are you doing standing there like an idiot?!! I never told you to stop!!" a loud and piercing sound came from the back.
He turned around to see the familiar face of his master, he was a old man with white hair but physically he was stronger then any other adult man, the sharp expression on his face was enough to make Issei subconsciously start moving again.
He practiced his moves like he used to do, now that he noticed he was in Liam's body right now.
He didn't knew how much time passed but he continued to repeat his movement techniques, his master were still looking at him.
He felt like his whole body is burning, it felt like all his muscles were screaming at him to stop...
It was even more hellish pain than he had to endure everyday for training Issei's body, but he didn't stop…
He wanted his master's permission for that, he didn't wanted to see the disappointed look on his master's face if he stopped.
He gritted his teeth and moved his body forcefully with sheer will power… If his master expected more from him, then he will continue trying to achieve such result.
In his thoughts and actions, he didn't even noticed a few simple things like…
How was he here? Why is he in Liam's body? Why is his master here? Is this a dream or reality?
But at this moment he didn't really cared, he was solely focused on the task in front of him…
Minutes turned into hours, even with his fast recovery that he was able to upgrade in these two years, he couldn't keep up with his fatigue without resting…
He couldn't take it anymore and fell to his knees which barely supported him, he was breathing hard as his body tried to collect enough oxygen to continue working.
"Who told you to stop?!! Stand up right now!!" He heard the familiar voice coming from behind.
Hearing this voice he again tried to stand up and start again but… he 'tried', he couldn't even move his muscles.
He tried to forcefully stand up again on his feet but couldn't form a balance, his legs wobbled a bit before they lost their strength and he again fell on the ground…
"I knew that you couldn't do it, don't come back here again…"
His eyes opened wide in shock when he heard those words, these were the words his master said when he first arrived here and asked him to train him…
The old man first took a test from him, it was a test of perservence, he was supposed to throw punches in the air until he was asked to stop…
The same scene happened then, Liam continued throwing punches in the air for quite some time but the old man wanted more from him,
After half an hour Liam's hands started hurting like hell, he couldn't even lift his arms anymore but the old man told him to not stop…
When Liam wasn't able to do anymore, the old man said the same words to him then,
"I knew that you couldn't do it, don't come back here again…"
Realization hit Issei, this wasn't the test of his skill or will power, it's all about perservence and patience…
Before issei was using all his will power to continue because he felt that it would be humiliating for him if he stopped but only now he understood the true meaning behind this test…
"You finally understand huh? Took you long enough."
He turned around to see his master's smiling face, he has shocked for a moment as he had never seen him smiling…
"Its all about emotions, it's emotions which differentiate us martial artist from others."
"A martial artist should never be too arrogant or even prideful because what you have learned till now is not even close to being perfect."
"Martial arts requires a person to be level headed at every moment, a moment of anger or impatience can cause you your life after all." He said giving him a knowing look.
Issei's (liam) looked down in shame, Liam was a part of him so he was also ashamed to be pointed out like this,
His master's meaning was clear, he lost his life because he was too arrogant to be able to beat the three hooligans that he didn't observe his surroundings.
"Well, I am not here to give you lecture here." Master said while Issei eyed him with curiosity "I am not your real master in the first place, you know" He laughed a little while saying this.
"I know that much, i mean isn't it obvious, how will my master just appear all of a sudden." Issei said with a casual tone.
"Then do you have any guess to who I really am?"
"No"
Issei said with a neutral look, he was still exhausted from his previous struggles.
"I am the gaurdian spirit of the forbidden grimoire" He said with a proud expression on his face 'Wasn't he the one saying something like to not be too proud just now?' Issei thought in his mind but didn't say it loud.
"What is that?" Issei asked with some anticipation in his voice.
"Its obviously a magic grimoire." The gaurdian spirit said with a look that said 'isn't it already obvious'.
"I know that, I meant what is so special about his particular grimoire?" Issei asked giving him a weird look.
The gaurdian spirit just rolled his eyes at him but then adopted a serious expression, Issei saw this and his expression also turned solemn…
"It is the grimoire which was written by lord Lucifer morningstart himself before his demise." The gaurdian spirit said with some regret and sadness in his eyes.
Issei was flabbergasted, a grimoire written by the original Lucifer!!! If the word went out about this then the whole underworld will hunt him down till his last breath for this information alone.
"I-i see, then why am I here in the first place?"
Issei said with a stutter, the fact that such a thing existed was mind boggling.
"It was a test that I took to see if you are worthy of such power, but look at my surprise you are better than I expected from a human"
"It is also very interesting that you are two existences combined as one in yourself…"
Issei wasn't a least bit surprised that the spirit knew, after all as a gaurdian spirit of such a treasure it should be quite strong…
"Then that means that now the forbidden grimoire is mine?" Issei asked suspiciously, even though the test was hard, he didn't think it was enough to obtain such a power…
"Hahaha, what you did can be done by many others but the fact that you are future red dragon emperor makes you a perfect candidate for the successor of Lucifer..."
"The only condition is that you shall be a devil to unlock this grimoire, after all if it falls into the hands of other races it can be catastrophic, right?"
This made quite some sense to him, he was planning to join one of the peerage in the future in the first place so he didn't have any problem with that, but there was a doubt in his mind…
"Can I gain access to it by only being a half-devil?" Issei asked in a concerned tone, what if Lucifer was also someone who believed in true devil's blah blah blah shit? It would be truly depressing if he couldn't even unlock the power he had…
"It should be quite obvious I think, if you are a half devil then you can use it partially, you will have to become a full blooded devil to use it to its full potential." The spirit said while looking at him like he was looking at an idiot.
Issei shrugged his shoulders and said "Its better then nothing."
He was quite disappointed by the revelation but he couldn't do anything about it, so why cry over something which is not yours?
"If you want to tap into full potential of the grimoire while being a half devil, there is loop hole you can use…"
Issei's eyes shined with hope when he heard him say that, he looked at him eagerly to continue…
"You will have to obtain the bloodline of the original lucifer."
Issei deadpanned at him, really? Original Lucifer's blood?
By original Lucifer's bloodline the spirit didn't meant that Issei could just go and kill someone from Lucifer family, they have a very diluted Lucifer blood by now,
He meant that Issei will have to either take blood from the direct descendant of Lucifer or take the blood from Lucifer itself which was logically impossible since both of them are dead by now…
Issei just sighed and shook his head to clear himself of these unnecessary thought and said "So, can you send me back now? I have training to do tomorrow, and what is your name by the way?."
"My name is Malphas, I was the Satan's second in command in my days, I will be sending you back now, if you want to talk to me then focus all your thoughts on your solar plexus."
Issei nodded his head and then he felt like his body was falling, his vision turned black but he could still feel that his body is still falling in an endless pit…
Normally, anyone would be freaked out by this but Issei felt comfortable and peaceful like this…
Like he didn't had any responsibilities now, he didn't have to train anymore, he didn't have to worry about future anymore and he didn't have to live anymore!
Wait what!! He came back to his senses and tried to open his eyes but he couldn't, it's as if he couldn't control his body anymore…
'Shit! Is this also a test?!' He shouted in his mind but shot down the idea immediately, when the test was going on previously he didn't even realize it until Malphas told him but he could think with a straight mind right now…
Wait, calm down! One has to be level headed in every situation.
It feels like my mind is constrained and trapped…
Is this the affect of the forbidden grimoire?
Obviously!! It will corrupt my mind if I don't control it!
No, I am the red dragon emperor of domination, I will be the one to dominate the powers not the other way round…
He put all of his effort to at least move his eyelids, he felt like he was opening a bottle cap with his bare hands,
It was difficult and slightly painful but not impossible…
He finally collected enough strength and shot up his eyes to see…
He was in his room, it was morning already, he checked his body for any change but couldn't find anything…
He got up from his bed and went to the bathroom to wash his face, he splashed some water on his eyes and used a towel to dry his face when he finally noticed something which made his face pale…
…
Chapter title: Malphas, Forbidden Grimoire
Hahahaha, how you like that cliffhanger? well I don't even know when the next chapter will be published, so please remember
"Patience is a virtue".
