Chapter 47: How to train your Heavenly Dragon

Chapter 47:

"___" - Speech

(___) - Thoughts

(___) - Internal Voice(s)

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Four days had passed since Issei was placed under Jin's tutelage, but many more nights remained before it would come to a close. 

"51…52…53," The overwhelming sense of pain in both his arms and core increased pushup by pushup, sweat managing to drip down his forehead in spite of the freezing temperature. "Hey…Jin," He motioned, panting all the while. 

"Yes?" Jin replied calmly. 

"Is this really necessary?" 

"What do you mean?" Jin said with a feigned look of innocence on his face. 

"You know what I'm talking about," Under normal circumstances, Issei could've handled at minimum a hundred pushups before he even began to show signs of fatigue, but thanks to Jin the task had become awfully more arduous. 

"No, I don't," He continued, whilst sitting on Issei's back cross-legged. Fiddling around with a ball of ice-magic in between his hands without a care in the world. Naturally, he made sure that there were no Dragons around before doing so. "But if you can afford to waste time blabbering, you can clearly do 50 more of those, so get going." In Sairaorg-esque fashion, Jin simply ignored his students' complaints and allowed him to endure the tortuous training he had been assigned. 

All Issei could do in retaliation was roll his eyes, the fact that Jin was a whole five inches taller than him accompanied by his constantly growing muscle mass made it feel as if there was a boulder on his back at all times. 

However, as was true with most things when it came to training oneself the pain would not come without reward. 

"How's the arm coming along?" Jin queried, pushing his lips together as he tried to transform the ball of ice into what was supposed to resemble a rose. 

"The arm?" Issei paused, staring at his still human looking left arm. "Actually, now that you mention it my arm has been flaring up a lot more often than usual, and much earlier than I expected it to. Should I be worried?" 

Jin simply hummed knowingly in response, unperturbed by the comment. "No, I'm willing to bet the sheer amount of Draconic Energy in the atmosphere around us is helping accelerate your process. The same is happening to me as well." 

Issei's look warped into one of confoundment. "But your arm looks pretty much complete to say the least, how could it possibly be affecting you?" 

Jin breathed a small chuckle before reaching towards the bottom of his shirt, lifting up the sides and revealing his ribs. "Can't say I didn't expect that reaction," He continued in a light tone. 

"Woah," Is all Issei could say as his mouth was left agape, bright silvery scales were crawling up the sides of Jin's torso with such shimmering radiance that he could almost see his own reflection in them. The way they spread up his skin appeared as if they were an infection, slowly eating up what remained of him. 

But his expression didn't show even the faintest inkling of worry, rather the opposite seemed to be true. 

"Wait, does that mean you even gave up your torso?" 

A sharp exhale left Jin's nostrils. "Gave up huh? You're starting to sound like them," He refused to elaborate. "This is just the start, my body will continue to transform until all my body parts are that of a Dragons. Luckily, the terrain seems to be helping me accelerate the process on top of the training I'm doing." 

Issei was left speechless momentarily, snapped out of his trance only by the motion of Jin pulling his shirt back down. "Let me guess, not a fan?" 

"I don't think it's really my place to approve or disapprove." Issei smartly replied. 

"Indeed, it isn't. However you needn't worry, I won't force, let alone try to convince you to do the same. My job is simply to give you the tools to form your own path, what you do beyond that is none of my business." Jin retracted his attention from Issei, continuing to hone his command over ice whilst still sitting on the latters back. 

"I see, but if I did do the same thing as you, would I be stronger?" 

"What kind of a question is that? Of course you would, a Devil's body is nowhere near as strong as a Dragon's." 

"Right," He responded somewhat embarrassed. "In your opinion, do you think it would be best for me to follow through with something like that?" Jin's eyes widened as he realized how much trust Issei had just inadvertently put in him. 

(You shouldn't be asking me something like that after only four days, sheesh.) 

"Like I said, I have little intention of telling you what you should and shouldn't do beyond your training. But at the same time, I don't think it would be a bad choice. Especially considering the fact that you've already made a start." Jin took a moment to contemplate before continuing. "Listen, regardless of what path you decide to walk, make sure that your decision isn't rushed. Dragon, Devil, even a combination of the both, it doesn't matter. No matter how glamorous it might seem, a path with no foundation is destined to crumble. I know it sounds somewhat contradictory seeing as I told you that you can't afford to dawdle for too long. But it doesn't make it any less true." 

Issei nodded affirmatively as a smile crept up his face, "Thanks." He said before returning to his training without any input from Jin. "Still, no matter how many times I think about it's hard to imagine not being by her side anymore." 

"Don't be so dramatic, you'll still be able to spend time with her, it's just that you won't be her subordinate anymore. I have nothing against the girl, but she's far too inexperienced to properly guide you. What you've inherited is so much more than just power, it's a legacy, one that even the Gods themselves feared." 

What he said was true, Jin really didn't hold it against Rias. How could one expect a teenager to fully grasp what it meant to be a Heavenly Dragon's host? Let alone what it would take to cultivate the power of one? Especially seeing as she had no connections to Dragons herself.

Sure, he was indirectly causing Rias to lose what was probably her greatest asset. But did it really make a difference? Issei was bound to ascend to High-Class anyways. All Jin was doing was speeding things up. 

"Ddraig is quite something isn't he?" 

"He is," Jin hesitated, picking up on the newfound resolve starting to stir within Issei. "And you will be too, someday." 

Issei's training continued on for at least another four hours, dusk had finally started to set causing Jin to decide that it was best to wrap things up for the night. 

"Alright, let's end off with a spar," His words instilled Issei with an all too familiar sense of dread as Jin had already begun to warm up. "As luck would have it, there's still no one else nearby which means we'll be using our abilities this time." A bit of relief returned to Issei's face. "Or more accurately, you'll be using them." 

"What do you mean?" 

Jin scratched his cheek in clear embarrassment. "I kinda wasted all my energy trying to figure out how to use my ice magic, so I barely have anything left in the tank at the moment." 

"Hold on, are you saying that you're going to fight me whilst I'm using my Sacred Gear, without activating yours?" If Jin hadn't clarified his predicament, Issei would've most likely than not assumed he was being looked down upon. 

"Yeah, pretty much. I doubt I'll be able to use any of my Fallen Angel powers either at the moment." 

"If that's the case, wouldn't it be better if we just sparred like usual?" 

"If we had more time on our hands then perhaps, but we don't. So you need to grasp every little opportunity you get whilst you're here." As per usual, Jin refused to give Issei any warning before making his move. 

CRACK! 

Jin's fist slammed against the side of Issei's face like a bullet train, catapulting him backwards into the snow behind. "Fine, but don't blame me if you get hurt." However, instead of falling on his back like usual, Issei had managed to catch himself and remain upright. He wiped off the small trickle of blood flowing from his lower lip with the back of his hand, activating the [Boosted Gear] without hesitation. 

"You ought to hurt me first before saying things like that." Jin chuckled as Issei assumed a stance. 

["BOOST!"] A voice bellowed from the emerald gem embedded in Issei's gauntlet, followed by a surgance of power welling up inside his veins. 

WHOOSH! 

Similar to Jin, Issei had managed to close the distance between them in what appeared to be a mere instant. Sending his fist flying towards Jin as the latter held his hands together in a boxer's guard. "Oh? It looks like the density of your ability has started to increase as well." 

"Density?" 

"Indeed. You shouldn't only be focusing on how many boosts your body can take before it reaches maximum capacity, but also how quick you can fill up that container." Even though Issei's power had increased twofold, Jin's kick was still able to completely outspeed him as it slugged him on the calf. "The quicker you can reach maximum strength the better, otherwise your opponent will simply defeat you before you can outpower them." 

"Noted," Issei replied bluntly, using the jab Jin taught him to nick him on the jaw. But Issei's power had still yet to pierce through Jin's durability, which would only increase more and more as his exterior continued to be Dragonified. 

"Not bad," Using his monstrous right arm, Jin garnered an iron clasp over Issei's wrist before flinging him into the distance like some sort of doll. "But you can do better." 

["BOOST!"] In lightning-like fashion, Issei appeared in front of Jin once more. Wasting no time delivering a Dragon-powered right hook to his face. 

"Now you're starting to get it." This time the hit actually connected, bruising Jin's face as the first signs of damage appeared on him ever since they had begun their training sessions together. Jin shot his right leg forward in retaliation, but Issei's quick reactions managed to catch it in time before he could land his attack. 

"You sure you wanna keep going?" Issei remarkled slyly. 

"Why wouldn't I?" Jin pushed his foot downwards on top of Issei's, swiftly restricting the latter footwork and allowing him to headbut Issei as he staggered backwards momentarily. But thanks to the [Boosted Gear], even a blow like that wouldn't cause him to fall over, let alone keel. 

"That was dirty." 

"Wouldn't be fighting if it wasn't."