Chapter 5: A Journey of Self-Discovery

Chapter 5: A Journey of Self-Discovery

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What does it mean to be truly intelligent?

Is it getting good grades in school? No. Anyone can get good grades and still be stupid. Remembering shit one learns from textbooks is easy.

Does intelligence only exist in those financially successful? No. Contrary to popular belief, Steve Jobs did not invent the smartphone. Instead, he was nothing more than an opportunist that sold other's ideas, poor nameless, faceless scientists that had to figure out how to get music and books onto the very device you're probably reading this fanfiction on right now.

There are plenty of rich elites that are not very bright. On the other hand, there have been many poor figures that were very intelligent, such as Van Gogh.

To be intelligent means to have wisdom, the quality of having experience and good judgement. This usually pertains to people who pass on their knowledge to the next generations.

In this day and age, knowledge is widespread, but wisdom is not. As a matter of fact, the very concept of wisdom is slowly disappearing with the passage of time due to the westernization of society that has resulted in disappearing cultures, lack of creativity, and destruction of family values.

However, there are some exceptions to this trend, and Issei Hyoudou is one of them.

Now, being intelligent does not mean being free from mistakes.

He pondered if this girl he's staring at is one of them, or at least her continued existence.

Fallen angel Raynare. In many ways, she remains an enigma.

He remembers all the times older females would flirt with him and how women would make him uncomfortable with their teasing smirks and touchy grabby paws that couldn't be kept to themselves.

Somehow, Raynare is different. She teased him every now and then in a harmless manner, and she never flirted with him, touched him inappropriately, or made him feel very uncomfortable in anyway. Her Yuuma persona does not count for obvious reasons, as that was not her true self.

But she did try to kill him, and for that, he'll occasionally send dirty looks her way.

Raynare sighs as she lounges on the couch, putting her book on her lap to look at him. "Okay, what's up? You've been glaring at me for a while."

"Nothing's wrong."

"I know you're angry at me still and don't trust me, but the least you could do is look somewhere else."

"Why? So you can attack me while I'm not looking?"

Glaring at him, Raynare bookmarks her novel and gets up, approaching him. "Give me a chance to gain your trust or at least quell your hostility. How about you stay here and send Asia and I shopping? I'll get her back in one piece."

"No chance."

"You said you'd consider training me to get stronger if I prove myself, but you're not giving me any opportunities."

["I have to agree with her. I understand your trauma, partner, but if what the Sitri devil suspects about this Khaos Brigade is true, then you three need to get stronger. I have a bad feeling that terrorists will end up being the least of your worries."]

"See? Even Ddraig agrees with me!"

Asia comes downstairs and sleepily rubs an eye. "What are you three talking about, Raynare nee-chan?"

"Ddraig and I were discussing how much of a control freak his host is. Seriously! I can't even step outside and go for a walk around the block to catch some rays and fresh air without this guy interrogating me!" Raynare pouts.

Issei shrugs. "It's not my fault that everything about you is so suspicious."

"Asia, all I want is to prove myself and become stronger. How can I protect you if he won't let me? I can't even protect myself. The incident at the church proved that."

Asia blinks before smiling at their argument. "Ddraig-san, what is your opinion?"

["Argento, I think my host is being stupid."]

Issei slumps to his knees. "That hurts, Ddraig. I thought we were brothers..."

"How about we vote? Who wants to get stronger here?"

All of them raised their arms as Issei's Boosted Gear manifested and lifted by itself to show what Ddraig has to say on the matter.

["Looks like a 3-1 tally."]

"... I want to get stronger too, actually."

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Soon, they found themselves at the base of an a hiker's trail that leads up a valley of mountains.

["As your drill instructor, your goal is to run this path three miles up the mountain and three miles down in less than 18 minutes."]

"... You've gotta be kidding me! That's impossible!" Raynare shouts.

Issei winces and feels annoyed by her voice, but a part of him has to agree with Raynare. When he trained before he was even born, he unlocked the video game equivalent of the basic and middle level skills on a skill tree as well as his Dragon Shot, a very deadly last resort attack. He mastered control over his aura to hide his presence from most high-class beings.

That didn't mean he trained physically under Ddraig. He ran around plenty and began using a treadmill by the time he was seven, but no one guided him.

In short, Issei is currently equal to the level of a lower high-class devil.

["Hey, you wanted me to train you, and this is the bare minimum you should be able to do without magic. With magic, the strongest host I've ever had would be able to do this in less than 14 minutes. If you can't do this much, then you might as well give up and wait for your enemies to kill you. The reason I'm giving you such a difficult training regiment off the bat is because if you're going to dip your toes, you might as well go swimming."]

Asia trembles in fear at the daunting task, but Issei encourages the three of them by saying, "If the three of us can get through this, I'll try to get along with you better, Raynare. No promises on my distrust, though."

The blonde's spirit lifts, and her ravenette friend nods. For them to be able to live in a less toxic home because Issei sees his "girlfriend" in a better light would be worth it.

Taking off running, Asia felt like she would collapse after completing just half a mile. For her, there was no shame in finishing 3rd place as long as she was right behind her two companions.

Raynare was breathing hard two miles in. By the time she reached the summit, she was doing all she could to keep up with Issei while also making sure Asia isn't left in the dust.

Issei didn't even break a sweat until he hit the four mile mark.

When they finished, he paced around while catching his breath. "Ddraig... How... How did we do?"

["Six miles completed in 21 minutes. I'm tracking all three of your physical conditions, and the reason you couldn't finish in the time I required of you is because of Argento. She's the weak link in the group and is holding you back. Without her, you and Raynare would likely have hit the 18 minute mark per my instructions. If one of you fails, then I'm going to force all of you to repeat the six miles."]

Raynare is about to complain, but Issei stops her. "The fastest humans in the world, Olympic athletes as well as soldiers from the United States Marine Corps and Navy SEALs could do what we're doing in less time. It's as Ddraig said, the strongest supernatural entities could do this significantly faster."

["Exactly. I'm training both your endurance and speed. Run it again!"]

Issei is stoic while Raynare stifles a groan. Asia frowns, tired but now more determined to succeed.

This time, they complete the six mile run in 18 minutes, barely enough to please Ddraig. All three of them collapse in exhaustion once they reach the finish line, the same place they started.

After half an hour of recovering their strength, they get up and turn right, following Issei into a darker part of the valley, a pine forest obscuring some sunlight, and they set up a tent to camp there.

They decide to train for a total of ten days.

Ddraig's schedule is as follows:

Day 1- Six mile run

Day 2- Magic training

Days 3-5- Six mile run + magic training

Day 6-7- Magic training

Days 8-10 Six mile run + magic training

Asia would test out her barrier magic with her sacred gear, healing from a distance while putting up walls of protection.

Issei would momentarily use Ddraig's flames, only for them to go out, although the duration he could use them would up a lot.

One time during a spar, Raynare unexpectedly used frost magic, the most powerful form of ice magic, to defend herself against Issei's flames. She'd throw massive boulders of ice at him before tiring out and surrendering.

He grinned. "Your attacks are very potent. However, you need to learn how to better control them."

She nodded, panting for air, her body slightly scratched and singed, wounds that Asia healed.

As for Issei's magic, he could boost more, and his fire breath got hotter, the range of his attacks increased, and his reserves went up. As a matter of fact, all their reserves went up.

Late at nights, he'd quietly play chess with Raynare to test her wits while Asia sleeps. She knew the rules of chess, but of course, she'd never win. Against anyone else, she'd stand a far better chance, but Issei is a monster of logic.

Sometimes, he'd sleep with both of his eyes open, which would creep Raynare out as he'd stare in her general direction. She'd wave a hand in his face, only to receive no response. He'd softly snore like this to let her know he's truly asleep.

One night, he'd guard the tent while the two ladies slept. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to do this, but his senses were far better honed now to tell him that sleeping tonight would be a mistake. He wasn't sure why he was paranoid.

By the final day of training, they could run the six miles in 16 minutes and 30 seconds through sheer determination, despite the immense pain filling their lungs and legs.

They decide to not go home on the final day but instead rest up.

As Issei is about to follow the girls into the tent, thinking about how worried his parents must be, he catches sight of a opening in the side of the mountain that would normally be difficult to spot from his angle.

He freezes. 'That wasn't there before.'

"Issei?" Raynare wonders why he isn't coming in to rest with them.

Placing a finger to his mouth, he shushes her and turns his attention back towards the cave. Drowning out surrounding distractions, he focuses his draconic senses on whatever lies within.

"... Issei?" The fallen whispers. She may not be strong nor on his level of intelligence, but she knows when an animal is trying to sense danger, and right now, the dragon in front of her is like a jungle cat about to pounce on something she cannot see.

Ignoring her, he reaches out even further with his senses and hears something.

RRRRRRRR!

WHOOSH!

The sounds of malevolent distant growls and flapping wings put him on high alert. Turning around, he was about to wake Asia, only to see her staring intently at him right next to the only other female. Upon seeing the startled look on his face, the blonde immediately began casting invisible protection barriers that envelop around the three of them individually.

"Something is in that cave. It's not good. Ddraig?"

["Strays. They're much weaker than you, but there's tens of thousands of them. Argento is better than both of you at defensive barrier magic, but she can't protect herself too well. In a fight to the death, she virtually has no attacks."]

"I'll stay with her while she protects you from a distance," Raynare offers.

Issei nods. "I'll wait for you two to get to that plateau that overlooks the cave. It's nearly a hundred feet above, so you should hopefully be safe. Go!"

They nod and leave him, arriving to their destination not a minute later.

As this was happening, the growling and flapping of wings got louder and louder.

Issei's senses screamed that something huge was going towards the two girls, who are now visible to something in the cave.

"RAYNARE!" His screams alert her.

From her peripheral field of view, she saw dozens of dark spears exit the cave and fly towards her, so without thinking, the fallen thrust her hand forward, and out shot a chilling gust of wind that threw the dark spears back towards the cave. Some of the projectiles missed while others pierced flesh, earning howls of pain and anger.

The sound was music to her ears, but it was short-lived as the Earth shook.

"Shit! Issei, I think we just awoke the hive!"

"Looks like I have no choice!"

"Welsh Dragon BALANCE BREAKER!"

The legendary red armor covered him from head to toe, and pulling out his sword, Early Retirement, he coated it in his aura, giving it an eerie dark red glow.

Asia never stopped casting defensive spells on the three, even while making her way up the plateau.

Her actions may very well have saved their lives because of the insanity that follows.

The Earth shook even more violently, causing the ground Issei was standing on to open up and give way. One would think this would cause a landslide, but he quickly connected the dots that someone else put magic in place that would prevent the domain of these strays from being annihilated by nature, as not even a single pebble fell through the grassy clearing.

Out came countless stray devils, some floating in the air, some crawling without wings.

Those without wings are slower in their movement, but their appearance is far more horrifying, their bodies intermingled with creatures of the Earth as if they somehow committed beastiality, some having spider legs, others moth torsos with the way they'd move up the mountain wall, some with wasp stingers, and some even having the bodies of tarantula wasps.

Some had pulsating bellies of beetles. Some the small but fearless bodies of honey badgers.

Then there were some with snake bodies and fangs, hissing at the red dragon.

"Hehehehe. Snakes. Mini dragons without wings. How cute!" Issei giggled.

["Battle maniac! Keep your head clear. I have not fought such numbers since the Great War, so don't get cocky!"]

"I know, Ddraig. I'm laughing because laughter is the best mechanism to cope with stress. That's why I don't go to the movie theaters, I cackle when someone is murdered in those horror films. That's why I watch that shit at home to not disturb the peace."

["You're kinda psychotic."]

"Perhaps."

Play song- "We're Not Gonna Fall" by Children of Bodom

Lunging forward, Issei decides to take care of the winged strays first, starting with a stab into one female stray's chest, startling the rest.

They roared as they attempted to attack him. Some launched dark spears, others attempted to punch, claw, and bite at him.

Issei effortlessly evaded the ones attacking in groups of five, dispatching them quickly, but any more than that started to become difficult.

As Raynare saw this, she used a constant frosty gust to keep the wingless strays on the ground with one hand while she used the other to occasionally kill one attempting to come at her and Asia or pick off the ones she rendered immobile.

For every stray Issei killed, it felt like two or three more took their place, slowly building his worry and frustration.

Unleashing a massive torrent of fire he breathed, killing several dozen, he jumped back to assess the situation.

"Ddraig, how many are left?!"

["That's the first wave. There's still thousands too many for me to count the exact amount."]

Their exhaustion from their earlier training in the morning was catching up to them, although Issei has far more stamina than the other two, but even he was beginning to feel the soreness of his muscles return.

More and more poured out, so he put away his sword and decided to go for hand to hand combat to be even faster in his attacks.

"DRAGON SHOT!" He roared as he lined up several in a row and blew them away, not bothering to keep track of how many he took out.

Raynare began dropping the biggest frozen boulders she could muster into the hole the strays emerged from, earning bone-chilling shrieks.

A snake-shaped stray managed to get behind Issei and bite his leg, making him yelp at the contact. Luckily, he wasn't wounded, but he felt one of Asia's barriers disappear, so he crushed the devil beneath his armored boot as more of the snakes and spiders flanked his blind spots, forcing him to turn his attention to the wingless strays.

"DRAGON SHOT! DRAGON SHOT! DRAGON SHOOOOOOOOT!!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, killing everything in his path.

["Your mana is dwindling, partner."]

"I noticed!"

Grabbing two strays, he smashed their heads together into a third one and kicked a wingless one down the hole along with several corpses, smashing into more incoming strays, killing or severely injuring them.

A massive man-sized wasp swept down and slammed its stinger into ground he was just in right as he jumped away after slicing it in two with his sword before putting it away.

Pissed off, Issei decided to take a gamble. Unfurling his draconic wings, he got off to a running start before jumping over to the other side of the hole in the ground while unleashing as many dragon shots as he could in the ground below.

"Issei, this is getting out of hand!" Raynare shouts. "I think we should retreat!"

"No! If we do, someone else will stumble on this place and get killed, plus these strays will only breed with each other and multiply in numbers! We need to end this now!"

"Always thinking of helping others..." Raynare muttered, not sure whether to feel disappointment or admiration.

The battle went on for hours. More and more of his barriers went down.

Finally, the strays managed to land a direct hit with couple dark spears. One hit him in the leg, and one got him in the left arm.

He roared in agony and fury.

"Issei!" Raynare shouts in worry.

"Issei-san!" Asia follows.

Images of his mother's smiles in their happy moments and her tears if her baby got hurt flashed through his mind. What would she think if he were to die?

No, he refuses to allow it!

"Ddraig!" He screams.

["Just a thousand left. Hang in there!"]

The ancient dragon channeled as much of his strength to his host as he could.

Having seen enough of his pain, Raynare puts her hands on a massive boulder and channels her newfound powers into it, turning the rock into ice.

Seeing this, Issei grinned. "I have an idea, Raynare! You push that thing into the hole-"

"-and you smash it into several smaller fragments!"

"Great minds think alike," He limped up the plateau beside her as Asia healed his wounds while he fired off smaller balls of flames to get rid of the stray reinforcements.

"You ready?" The fallen asked.

He nods.

Together, they put their shoulders into the rock and body-checked it. The piece of Earth was just small enough to fit inside the hive.

Jumping down and flying as fast as he could after the below-freezing limestone, Issei coated his sword with almost all his remaining magical reserves and stabbed into the rock, breaking it into thousands of smaller projectiles flying at hundreds of miles per hour.

Screams of pain and death filled the air. He knew the angel of death would be busy delivering their souls back to hell after that one.

"Raynare, there's barely a hundred left! Get down here and help me finish them! Asia, stay where you are!"

Following his command, the fallen carefully glided down into the hole. Even her magical power is waning, so she decided to keep the frost attacks as a last resort and instead go back to using only light spears.

As they raised hell, one of the normal strays snuck up on her, jumped onto her back, and sunk its teeth into her soft neck, nearly severing an artery had she not reacted in time by stabbing it with her spear over her shoulder.

"FUCK YOU!" Raynare curses loudly, angry that she got caught off guard like that.

Only a couple dozen strays were left, but they were quickly disposed of.

Panting for air, Issei gave Raynare a minute, sweat dripping down their bodies, before saying, "We need to burn their bodies."

"What? Why?"

"I've seen and read enough anime and movies to know not to risk a necromancer resurrecting them."

"Weirdo... But maybe you're right." Shaking her head, she followed his lead.

They pushed the corpses and limbs still intact down the hole. It took them a couple hours, and by now, the sun was almost completely beneath the horizon, so they knew they needed to hurry up before any other supernaturals come to investigate the disturbance.

Once a couple thousand bodies and body parts were piled up, Issei used the last of his mana to breathe fire onto the wall of flesh they built. He waited till it was completely gone before he gestured to Raynare to put out the flames with her frost before it spreads to the whole mountain range.

Collapsing on the ground, he pants for air and looks at her. "I'm fucking exhausted. You'll need to pack our tent and belongings."

Blinking, she sighs and walks off while mumbling, "When will this day end?"

Soon after, she also uses the last of her magic to teleport them in front of their house.

Entering their home, Miki Hyoudou comes barreling to her son and hugs him tight. "Where were you?! Wait, are you injured?! What happened?!"

Asia looks at him apologetically. Unfortunately, while her sacred gear can heal, it doesn't instantly make scars disappear, especially fresh ones.

"I'm fine, mom. Just a few minor cuts and burns. We went camping in the mountains. Didn't I tell you?"

"No." She looks at him skeptically while her husband stands back, careful not to intervene with her smothering and fussing over their child.

"Oh. Sorry, I thought I mentioned it, but maybe it slipped my mind. Anyway, there was a huge wildfire where we camped, so I helped put it out."

Raynare chimed in, "He did it on his own. You should've seen him. He was shouting about how he won't let this spread to our home and hurt the people he cares about."

He turns to her with a scowl, knowing she's teasing him about him saying that today was their only chance to take care of those strays before they hurt anyone else.

"Really? You were so brave then, my sweet boy!" Mrs. Hyoudou's eyes light up before turning serious. "But next time, tell us where you're going and be more careful!"

"I will, mom. Sorry that I made you two worry."

His father said nothing and simply gave him a relieved sigh and a head pat when he walked passed him.

They ate their dinner and went upstairs to their room.

Asia frowns when she sees Issei lay in his futon.

"Issei-san, I insist you take the bed. Not that I don't appreciate your hospitality, but I never wanted it in the first place. After what happened today, you deserve it a lot more than I do."

Not wanting to argue, he gets up and collapses in the bed.

Before he can sleep, Ddraig voices his criticism of their actions. ["I have some tips for the next time you three get into a fight to the death. First of all, Raynare, you need to have a better control over your emotions. Near the end of the fight, you cursed that you were ambushed, but you need to be able to keep a level head at all times, otherwise, one momentary lapse of judgement can cost you not just your life, but also the lives of your allies."]

Raynare looks down, ashamed that she let that happened, placing a hand to her neck where she was bitten, but she nods.

["I have no criticisms for Argento, but you, partner, do not have enough magical reserves to go on like this. If you can barely handle that many low level strays, then what chance do you have against any higher strays or more powerful beings of any sort that mean you harm? While your physical training is important, I now realize that you need to focus even more on your magic than anything."]

He simply nods, too tired to argue, even if he wanted to.

"... Thank you, Ddraig."

["Hey, what are friends for? I keep you in check like this."]

Right now, the dragon wouldn't admit it, but he already loved Issei like a brother more than he'd cared about anyone else, so seeing him get hurt angered Ddraig.

Issei nods and soon after falls asleep.

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Ajuka Beelzebub was running tests on Rias Gremory's wounds.

He sighs when his tests finish. Combined with his magic and his inventions, the results were evident.

"Well?" Sirzechs asked.

The green-haired devil sighs. "Do you want the good news first or the bad news?"

"Bad news."

"Well, with the means we have now, there's no feasible way of recovering her memory, at least to tell us who did this to her. Good news is that there is an aura in her wounds left by the attackers weapon. It's draconic."

Sirzechs had mixed feelings. On one hand, there was a slight sense of dread that the dragon that took out Rias' peerage and obviously spared his sister's life could be very powerful.

On the other, they narrowed down the possible list of suspects from stray devils and members of the three factions to just one species.

"Well, it's better than nothing. We have a lead. All that's left is finding the bastard that did this to her."

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To Be Continued

Chapter length- 4,423 words

I've recently been listening to a lot of death metal, specifically to a Finnish band called Children of Bodom, and my favorite song of theirs is one that I won't name yet ( I do plan to use it for the big bad villain fight in this fanfic), but it just sounds so perfect for an anime opening or final boss fight song. :)