Chapter 167 - Greed!

Izumi deflected the attacks from the delicate hands of Miyuki. Although Miyuki didn't look toned and barely had a few muscles. Her looks were deceiving, since she possessed freakishly strong strength, "You are using too much power."

Izumi easily deflected her attacks with barely any effort. She could tell that Miyuki was skilled in martial arts, but she was not used to the flow.

"You need to focus more on the flow of things, use your opponent's powers to turn it on them." She held Miyuki's attacking hand and flipped her over. But, before she fell to the ground, Miyuki twisted her body in the air, landed on her all four.

She jumped right back at Izumi, trying to punch her. Izumi had an impressed smile on her face, "That's good..." She took Miyuki's hand and flipped her over with even more force.

"Ugh!" Miyuki landed on her back. "But not good enough!!" Izumi stood on her head with a grin on her face.

Tatsuya watched the whole thing with a smile on his face.

"I thought you would be the protective type."

Tatsuya glanced at Sig, "I am."

"Hmm." Sig didn't say anymore.

"I haven't seen that face in a while."

Sig raised his head; his eyes followed Tatsuya's, seeing Miyuki's face. She was gritting her teeth, but she hid that quickly. Even Sig could notice that fiery look in her eyes as she stared at Izumi.

"You see, most things come very quickly to her. Because of that, our family had great expectations of her. They made sure to keep her busy, learning different things. Even then, she never complained. There was a time when she used to have that kind of fiery look from her eyes. After all, above all, Miyuki hates losing. But, soon it disappeared...there were few who could make her show that face..." Tatsuya liked that look in her eyes before it might have been because he never felt like that. But, even though he might be able to now, he was delighted to see that look in her eyes again.

Miyuki stood up, taking a deep breath as her eyes turned serious, "Please teach me everything."

Izumi gazed at her, "it won't be easy, especially since we only have four days." If anyone else asked her, she would reject it without thought. But, few women were alchemists. Seeing someone like Miyuki, who was not only an alchemist but also good at martial arts, she just couldn't refuse. Although she could counter her using the flow, that didn't mean she could defeat her in hard martial arts.

Her martial arts were similar yet different from what she had seen till now.

Miyuki stared deeply into her eyes, "I will do it...I will learn the flow in four days."

"Heh!!" Hearing her, the grin on Izumi's face increased, "then come!"

"Happily!" She lunged towards Izumi, trying to land the punch on her face. Izumi happily stepped back, making the attack barely miss her. She tightened her fist to punch Miyuki's stomach. Miyuki used her other hand to scarcely blocking the punch. Her legs dragged against the grass as she tried to stand still.

'Can't attack straight on ahead.' Miyuki knit her brows. She couldn't think about it; if she attacked then, the power behind her attack would be redirected.

But, if she didn't attack, this would be a stalemate, and she wouldn't learn anything.

'Wait...maybe...' She ran forward, this time rather than attacking with hands. She threw some low kicks on her body.

Curling her lips in a smile, Izumi rotated her body, dodging her kicks. With the rotation, she appeared on the other side of Miyuki's leg. She raised her palm and simply pushed Miyuki's body, making her fall down.

"Eh..." Miyuki looked up in surprise after falling down. She didn't think it would be so simple. She couldn't believe it, she was a skilled martial artist, but Izumi made her look like a chump.

She stood up again...' since that doesn't work... let's try decreasing the power...' She punched Izumi again, but this time, she severely weakened the power moments before it hit.

But that caused her center of gravity to became struck in between, leaving her open for attacks.

Izumi didn't attack her, "that's good, you are flexible in your thinking. That will help you learn quickly."

Tatsuya let out a breath seeing Miyuki try again and again. His thoughts drifted in the distance. With Miyuki's words, he had a small idea about his 'self.' His self was slowly growing; he could smile at things now, he felt nostalgic about things. He could really appreciate the beauty in things now. The feel he got after hearing music was different from before. Moreover, he could truly love her now.

The look in his eyes turned gentle before turning into surprise, 'am I...falling in love?' It was different from what he felt for Miyuki till now. It was something more.

As if noticing his expression, Sig crossed his hands and smiled before that smile disappeared. Seeing young ones fall in love was always pleasant.

Tatsuya shook his head and picked one of Izumi's research notes. 'I should focus on this.'

After a few hours,

Miyuki lay down on the grass, panting; her face and body were full of sweat.

Izumi had her hand on her knees, breathing roughly, "You really have the spirit... and stamina." If she hadn't been healed by Tatsuya regularly for the past three days. She wouldn't have been able to last so long.

There was a limit to how much Tatsuya could heal her in one day without overdrawing her life force.

Miyuki sulked silently, 'I couldn't even land a single hit.' She wasn't satisfied with that.

"He-he..." Izumi laughed lightly, seeing her sulk. She could feel the cold sweat on her forehead; at the end, Miyuki came really close to hitting her.

"mm??" Miyuki suddenly raised her body, "where is Onii-sama?" She was so engrossed that she didn't realize when Tatsuya left.

Sig looked at her and pointed towards the outskirts of the town, "Hmmm."

Izumi glanced in that direction her husband pointed, "Why did he go there."

Sig just shook his head.

But, Miyuki opened her mouth, "that direction is..."

"You know where he went?"

Miyuki pulled her hair stuck to her face because of sweat, tying them back, "I don't know where, but I do know who."

Izumi frowned, "you look worried..."

Miyuki was a bit startled, "No, he will be fine." She looked down at the grass, "I just hoped he would have taken me." She was startled because of a different thing. She didn't realize, she was letting her expression show on her face.

"Would he need help?" Izumi asked.

Miyuki smiled, shaking her head, "No...Onii-sama is the strongest."

Izumi widened her eyes before narrowing them; she had a feeling Miyuki wasn't saying because of pure admiration.

She stared in that direction, 'If I remember correctly...in that direction lies..'

"Devil's Nest."

Tatsuya stood in front of the Devil's Next; it seemed to be some kind of underground pub.

There was a six feet high tunnel-like entrance made of red bricks. With a few red pipes going inside, it was mostly dark inside.

Tatsuya walked inside, there was a ladder that went upwards. Climbing it, Tatsuya found himself in a run-down bar. With dim lighting, a bar on the left, and a few tables in front of that. There was also a sofa set in between the room and a few doors to the back rooms.

Most were third-grade thugs; there was only one guy that got his attention.

He resembled a tall and muscular young adult with short, spiky, black hair, kept slicked back. He had purple eyes with thin, cat-like pupils and razor-sharp teeth. He wore in leather, sporting a short, black jacket with a fur collar, black leather pants, and shoes with upward tips. Even now, the guy was looking at him with a big grin.

He sat down at the bar, "give me your finest." His gaze turned to the people surrounding the guy; there was a large guy with muscles and gray hair. There was a sledgehammer beside him; the other one was short wearing keikogi and a katana. There was an amestrian woman with tattoos on her neck. She had a militaristic look to her.

He looked at the drink in front of him, lost deep in thought, 'they are...not humans.' Even without Elemental Sight and most of his powers sealed or suppressed. There were still instincts he had build during his training in Yotsuba and his time in the Military. Moreover, now he had the Chi that allowed him to feel the flow of living things. The guy in the center was definitely strange. He gave him the same feeling as the one underneath this country.

Tatsuya paid for the drink and left the pub. Walking on the empty backstreets for a while, he turned and entered the valley and stopped.

Soon, the sound of footsteps appeared behind him. The guy that sat at the center of the bar was walking towards him with a wide grin.

Tatsuya turned around, "is there something you need?"

"Hee...I like those glasses of yours, how about you give them to me!"

Tatsuya touched his sunglasses, "Really, you came all the way for these glasses?"

His grin became even wider, "What can I say... I am really greedy!!"

Abruptly, Tatsuya appeared beside him, with his hand on the guy's stomach. Orange electricity discharged from his hand.

"UGGHH!!" The guy fell down on his knees, holding his stomach.

Tatsuya glanced at his face, "Too much greed is bad for health. It could give you a stomach ache." He looked at the right and walked away.

Shortly after Tatsuya walked away, the four of his subordinates came. Seeing him kneeling on the ground, they came running, "Greed!!"

The man named greed stared at the ground while holding his stomach, "That bastard! What the hell did he do!" Even his regenerative powers were talking time to heal whatever that guy did to his stomach.

He looked at the small guy that Tatsuya didn't see before. He was wearing a cloak with a tail peeking from behind the cloak, "Go follow him! I want to know everything about...*Bleech*...*Cough*...find everything about him!"