Training

"Can you tell me stories about your previous travels?" Shenhe asked, as she stroked my hair.

"Hm? Let me try recalling some of them…" I said as I leaned back, feeling the soft melons hit my back.

(A/N: Aether in this fanfic is a bit taller than the original one. When did this change happen? After his fight with Osial. I forgot to point that out too when Lumine saw Aether again, sorry for that.)

"Hm… I guess there's also this one time I went on an expedition against a demon king with my sister. It was quite troublesome really. I even remember this one time where the demon king shattered my soul, but I was somehow able to survive. My soul was able to recover too, but I have this faint feeling that the fragments got sent into different worlds…"

"That would mean you're just the main fragment, doesn't it?"

"I guess so."

After that, we just sat in silence. This was quite nice. I leaned back more, the soft mounds pushing against my back even more.Ah, this softness. I let out a sigh of satisfaction.

"You sure like soft things, huh?"

"Of course I do, why wouldn't I? It's so comfortable~"

"Haah, if your wives were to see you do this to a girl they don't know or trust…"

"Ah, I think I'll die if that happens. Literally."

I started thinking again and remembered this one world where I was stabbed by an arrow twice. I got something called a Stand. It was named Sora. Why was it named this way? Well, it was a white humanoid with golden armor pieces. What pieces? Gloves, arm guards, chest plate, fauld, and greaves. Its head only had an alpine hat… I seriously don't know why it's like that. It doesn't even have a face. On something resembling a chin guard that goes up to what should be where its mouth is and two large holes with golden glowing orbs for eyes.

I remember people who saw me get pierced the second time call it a "Requiem Stand" whatever that means. As for the abilities… honestly, it was quite broken. It could stop time for 10 seconds, heal any injury, and even make portals to other dimensions. (A/N: Stando Powaah)

I completely forgot about how to summon it. I remembered that it was a sentient type Stand, but I sealed it because of just how powerful that time stop is. Now that I think about it, that was a pretty dumb decision.

"Now if I remember correctly…" I began muttering, catching Shenhe's attention.

"Did you say something?"

"Ah, no. I was just thinking of a way to remove the seal on my soul to let out my Stand again."

"Stand…?"

"Ah, I forgot to tell you the story. Well, it goes like this…"

I then told Shenhe about this particular world where everything was just…bizarre. There were people who looked like they were cosplaying and I didn't understand why they just stared at each other intensely at first then suddenly getting injured. However, I quickly understood when I was pierced by an arrow. Lumine was fortunate to not get hit, but me… not so much.

Could I say it was bad that I got hit though? I mean, I obtained a Stand and I was quick to learn the abilities of my Stand.

…

I still can't forget where Lumine called me crazy when I suddenly stared at one of these "cosplayers", though I know they were Stand users, and just stayed like that. She was shocked when the man suddenly got knocked back though.

"I remember it as clearly as Osmanthus wine…"

"What?"

"What?"

Now that I think about it, Shenhe and Chongyun should be able to see the Stands, but won't be able to touch it. Kinda unfair to anyone in this world, but was anything really fair to begin with?

I better find a way to let it out… and maybe even train. To be honest, my battle with the Herald was… dissatisfactory. I feel like I've been slacking off too much. What if the enemies in Inazuma are stronger? And then there's Lumine…

"Hey, you'll be staying at my home from now on, right?" I asked Shenhe as I looked back.

"Yes, why?"

"Could you tell them that I won't be coming home for the next two days? I need to train since I feel like Inazuma will be even more problematic… Not to mention my sister…"

"Alright then."

I smiled at Shenhe and gave her a peck on the lips as we continued our bath in silence.

—

I arrived at my Realm and took a deep breath.

"This is going to be hell."

I made weights out of Geo, however, these weights were really dense so they should weigh around 50,000 tons. I made a Geo pole strong enough to hold the weights and put six of the weights on the rod. Suffice to say, I felt like my arms were about to break. I know that I can break godly seals but holy shit that would mean that the seal in Sal Terrae was weaker than I thought.

With just 100 swings, I felt like my arms were about to come off, but I ignored the pain and just continued on. With the threat of Lumine now looming over my family, I need to get even stronger than before.

"Surpass everyone! Even the gods themselves!" I shouted, maintaining my breathing while I swung the rod.

With each swing, I feel my body giving up, but I used the same method I used with Pride and constantly healed myself. However, even my healing wasn't enough to alleviate the pain that I was feeling. Well, it only alleviated a bit.

"301!302!303!304!" I shouted as I continued on with my training. Even if it's just two days worth of training, I'm going to make the most out of it. Technically three if I count this day, but I'll still do the same.

I increased the intensity of my swings and the ground even began cracking beneath me with each swing. This isn't enough yet though. I need more than this, so I made Anemo push me deeper into the ground. Kinda like increasing the gravity. With this, I can also train my legs.

"418!...419!...420!"

I was starting to feel like my body was about to give out but I willed myself to keep going. After what felt like hours, I was finally done with 1000 swings. However, I'm not done yet. I then made chains that can handle the weights and tied them to my legs.

With each step I take, I feel like my legs are about to come off. Still, I kept going. This may seem really reckless and dumb, but I know Lumine's power more than anyone. Our original power isn't something to mess with, not to mention that Abyssal Corruption she has. If I'm not strong enough, she'll destroy the nations, killing everyone I care about in the process.

I kept on with my training, enduring the pain with each step I took.

—

I was on the ground, breathing heavily as I looked at the fake sky of my Realm.

"Should I train my hand to hand combat…?"

Even though I can create weapons anytime I want to, all the weapons I create and use are too deadly for sparring and even overkill for normal combat. So I might as well train my hand to hand combat. It might even be a good pair to my sword style. Just like what I did with my battle with that Herald bastard.

I started shadow boxing since there wasn't really anyone to spar with in here. I did all of this while still doing the same breathing pattern as Corruption Style, so it was quite the shock to me that my fists and legs caught fire.

"Hell yeah! Corruption Style: Martial Type!"

I was pretty happy with this discovery. With this, I can fist my way against my enemies too!

…

Please don't take that out of context. Anyways, since my normal style has three forms, I might as well make three for my Martial Type too. I wonder what though… Gah, fuck it. I'll just think one through as I go. I continued on with my shadow boxing, completely ignoring the pain that I was experiencing.