Chapter 22: Training (4)

Day 6

"Great job in surviving the first 5 days of training, now that you're physical strength and reflexes has been honed similar to a middle-class devil, we can now move on to practical skills"

Lucias said as he stood in front of the group of devils in front of him with a wide smile on his face, causing the devils to twitch their mouth from the hell that they experienced before.

"I'm going to divide guys based on your specialization and I will assign a 'teammate' of mine or even me to help you devils in honing your respective skills"

Lucias said as both Artoria and Lilia stepped forward beside him with neutral expressions on their faces.

"Kiba, Koneko, you two will learn under Artoria. She will teach you everything you need to know about the basics of close range combat"

Lucias said before Artoria dragged the two of them out of the gravity room without a single expression on her face while wearing a wooden sword on her waist as a substitute for her sword so she wouldn't accidentally kill them during training.

"Akeno you'll personally be taught by Lilia about lightning magic, since you only know a few spells on that field of magic"

Lucias explained causing Lilia to teleport both her and Akeno out of the room, leaving Rias, Issei, and Lucias alone inside the gravity room.

"Issei, you will learn on how to properly circulate and control the mana in your body with me while Rias will learn tactics and strategies by herself in the simulation room"

"Why would I ha-"

"Honestly speaking... You know nothing about leading your 'servants' or soldiers in battle. I can already see them dying because of your reckless decisions so... you'll have to learn everything... by experience"

Lucias cut her off as he flicked her forehead with his middle finger with a light smile on his face before gazing at Issei who was nervously looking at his direction.

"The main reason why I made you undergo the same training as Kiba and Koneko is because... your body is far too weak to handle the power brought by your sacred gear"

Lucias explained while pointing at his left arm where Ddraig is located.

"If I just taught you how to 'use' it, your own body will explode or collapse from the incredible power boosts brought by your Longinus... right now, I think your body can handle at least 20 boosts with ease"

"W-what"

Issei muttered in shock as he stared at him with wide eyes from the incredible increase in the amount of boosts that he can now perform unlike before.

"I'll teach you how to condense the raw mana of your Longinus and fire it as a projectile in different forms. I wanted to teach you on how to break the limits of your boosts of 1 boost for 10 seconds but... We have limited amount of time and I don't think that you'll be able to learn it properly in this remaining days so we have no choice but to focus on your offensive capabilities"

Lucias said with an ominous smile on his face, causing Issei to shiver in fear despite the joy that he felt from his large improvement in strength.

"Remember the humiliation brought to you by Riser for being too weak... You'll need that to motivate yourself during our training, Hyoudo Issei"

Lucias snapped his finger, teleporting the 2 of them towards the floor where the simulation machine is located.

"For now... you'll have to learn on how to properly control the mana in your body"

-with Artoria-

"Let's start... I want you to hit me with everything you got"

Artoria ordered as soon as they arrived in the floor where the dojo is located together with both Koneko and Kiba while holding her wooden sword with her right hand.

"... Don't blame me for hurting you"

Kiba said as he grabbed a wooden sword in the corner, causing Artoria to shake her head before looking at him with a serious expression on her face.

"Use your [Sword Birth] to create your own sword"

"What?"

Kiba muttered in a dumbfounded tone as he turned his head to gaze at the androgynous girl standing majestically at the middle of the dojo.

"I said use your [sword birth]"

Artoria repeated her words as she pierced the floor of the dojo with her wooden sword before placing both of her hands on top of the handle with a light frown on her face.

"Are you underestimating me?"

Kiba asked with a slightly angry tone while clenching his fist while Koneko just assumed a stance with her fists clenched in front of her face with her right foot forward, preparing to use all of her power against her without any questions.

"No, I'm just fully aware of your current strength. If you fight me using that wooden sword... I don't think you'll be able to put a decent fight against me"

Artoria said causing Kiba to clench his teeth before creating a demonic sword with his [sword birth], angrily glaring at her direction.

"If you think I'm wrong then prove your strength to me, devil"

Artoria stated without changing her current stance as both Koneko and Kiba charged at her direction.

Kiba quickly arrived in front of her, slashing his demonic sword upwards aimed at her chest but Artoria easily caught the tip of the blade with her right hand, shattering the sword into pieces before swinging her wooden sword at his abdomen, slicing a deep cut at his chest before he crashed on the wall due to the incredible force contained in her attack.

"Ugh..."

Kiba growled in pain as his body suit immediately healed his deep wounds causing him to grit his teeth before standing up from the ground and dashing towards Artoria.

Koneko threw a powerful hook at her side as soon as she arrived in front of her causing Artoria to catch her first bare handed without any difficulty before throwing her body up in the ground, delivering a powerful blow at her stomach which launched Koneko crashing to the ceiling of the dojo.

"One relies on his speed too much and the other relies on her raw strength to fight..."

Artoria muttered before parrying Kiba's sword with ease using her wooden sword.

"You technique is so bland... You're just swinging your sword without thinking or predicting your opponent's movements"

Artoria said before placing more strength into her sword to slash Kiba away from her, staring at his direction with a frown on her face.

"Tch"

Kiba clicked his tongue in irritation as Koneko delivered a straight hook aimed at her body, causing her to place her left foot to her side to tilt her body and dodge her fist causing her to hit nothing but air before receiving a blow at her stomach.

"Gah..."

Koneko grunted in pain as an elbow hit her back causing her body to crash onto the ground before being thrown away at the corner of the room.

"If you fail to hone your techniques after this, I'll personally kill the two of you myself"

-with Lilia-

"... So you only know one spell and that is [lightning strike]?"

Lilia asked while hugging her stuff toy in her hand as she stared at Akeno's direction without any expression on her face.

"Yes..."

Akeno scratched the back of her head with flushed cheeks as she kneeled down to match her height.

"... I guess, I'll teach you everything I know about lightning magic... After that we'll immediately move to learning [Quick casting]"

Lilia said as she summoned a soft chair behind her for her to sit down at while she supervise her progress.

"I'll let this slide for now since your an important person to one of our members"

Lilia whispered to herself before creating a hexagram in her hand, combining it with the laws of magic in her current dimension so she can easily access and explain the concepts to Akeno who was sitting in front of her.

"Unlike the rest of the elements, lightning is known for its speed. It's not as destructive as fire magic, not as versatile as wind and water magic, but it's the fastest among the other types of elemental magic"

Lilia explained before casting a [lightning strike] against the dummy in the middle of the room, causing the dummy along with the floor to shatter into pieces from the power contained in her attack, more powerful than Akeno's own lightning spells.

"Lightning magic can be used in different ways, be it improving your bodies reflexes, creating a powerful armor or weapon of pure lightning, or as a support for your allies or your own"

Lilia said as Akeno listened to her words attentively, as she sat down in front of her.

"When there are different types of fire, there are also different types of lightning, each containing a nature of having a higher voltage or special effects compared to the others... like holy lightning"

"..."

Akeno remained silent from her words while clenching her fist in anger from remembering the death of her mother, and the blame she placed upon her father.

"I won't force you to use holy lightning if you don't want to... but it's preferable if you use it since it can help increase your chances of winning this rating game"

"..."

"*Sigh*... Let's get started... from scratch"

-with Lucias-

"... Issei, focus will you?"

Lucias said in an irritated voice while watching Issei, struggling to control his own mana inside his body while drenched in sweat from his constant attempts to control even a tiny bit of his mana.

"You might need to create a medium to help him focus, Lucias"

The 'creator' advised inside his mind as he stood in front of Issei with a large frown visible on his face.

"... What kind of medium are we talking about exactly?"

"... I think you already know this medium I speak of, Lucias"

The 'creator' answered causing Lucias to gaze at Issei who was sitting on the ground with a complicated expression on his face, remembering the rune and gift inside Issei's body.

"... Do I really have to?"

Lucias asked with a wry smile on his face. The only way for him to train seriously is making Rias train him personally or he must have one of his subordinates, specifically a succubus, to train him.

"He will not progress if he continues training like this Lucias, even though you have achieved great feat in significantly improving his physique in a short period of time. Magic involves the mind, if you force someone to learn something they don't like... The chances of them obtaining that specific skill will significantly decrease"

The 'creator' explained in a calm and collected voice.

"Rias is currently training inside the simulation room... Disturbing her will only affect her training..."

Lucias muttered with a frown on his face before leaving the room where Issei is currently trying to concentrate his mind and control the flow of his mana.

"... As long as he doesn't do anything funny... then I guess it's fine"

"... So you're planning to summon, one of your subordinates?"

"Yeah..."

Lucias answered before snapping his finger, creating a small magic circle with the emblem of his faction imbedded in the middle behind him.

"... This might be too graphic for Hanna..."

The 'creator' muttered as she held her daughter Hanna who was eagerly watching Lucias with bright eyes in her arms.

"Hanna... Can you play with your sisters for a while?"

"Eh? But Hanna wants to watch papa!"

Hanna protested with a pout as she clung to her mother's embrace with pleading eyes.

"Hanna... I'll bring you to meet your little sister, Kunou if you behave"

The 'creator' suddenly said with a gentle smile on her face as she caressed her soft golden hair with her right hand.

"REALLY!?"

Hanna asked with a bright expression on her face as she gazed at the 'creator' with glittering eyes.

"Yes, let's go visit your father in the mortal realm together after this, is that alright with you?"

The 'creator' asked while temporarily sealing both her and Lucias' realm, the realm of destruction and creation, frozen due to the absence of the origin of destruction.

"Mn!"

Hanna happily nodded her head before jumping out of her mother's embrace and opening a small rift in space to enter the realm of Order.

"You're orders?"

An extremely beautiful woman with long blood red hair and ruby eyes kneeled down in front of Lucias while spreading her two jet black wings on her back as he long tail swayed behind her hips.

"... I have someone I want you teach"

"Oh my... Is it the browned haired boy, Lucias-sama?"

She asked with extremely bright eyes as she peaked at the door of the room, exposing her several bruises and injuries beneath her clothes, causing Lucias to frown from the sight of her wounds.

"I want you to teach him how to control his magic... Well if it's you then I guess his training might go smoothly for this remaining day"

Lucias said causing her to tilt her head in confusion as she stared at her faction leader.

"Also... I told you not to overwork yourself..."

Lucias patted her head before healing her bruises and wounds, causing bright green aura to cover her entire body as her skin returned back to its peak.

"I'm sorry..."

"It's alright... just please don't overwork yourself from now on? In this task that I gave you, try not to force him to learn magic that he can't understand... just take it slow alright? Just teach him the basics since I doubt he'll be able to properly learn the more complex concepts of mana control in just a few days"

"I-I'll try my best, Lucias-sama"

"Remember... don't push yourself to hard but... if his still not progressing, give him to the elves since their methods will surely teach him how to control his mana... The only downside is that he has a 30% chance of not becoming a puppet for their exclusive use"

Lucias reminded before giving Issei once last glance with a light smile on his face.

"... Then I'll be going, I'll see you after 3 days, Sandra"

Lucias said before teleporting out of the floor to check on Rias' progress with her training.

"I wonder what kind of person you are, Hyoudo Issei-san"

Sandra said with a wide smile on her face before entering the room.