Camping and Change part 1

Subaru and Halibel were walking towards the neighbouring forest that was known to be a Ma-beast trading ground.

The forest would be the harshest possible environment for anyone to simply live yet train.

And Subaru knew it

He wanted to hide away from society while still being able to train

And there was no harsher environment to train in than a dangerous forest with little to no resources and still having to train with Halibel

This would either be the best training or a horrible waste of time.

Halibel also held a bit of excitement for this.

And he wanted to ensure that Subaru's training would produce phenomenal results Knowing that Subaru had enemies and potentially the sword saint himself (Although he doubted the Saint would show up) he wanted to prepare Subaru to the best of his ability

So Halibel promised that he would not go easy on Subaru, even if he hadn't slept or eaten

...

The walk towards

the forest was silent

The only sounds heard as the two walked were the whistling of the wind and the rustling of the green grass

But Halibel didn't want to walk in awkward silence, so he started up a conversation using his plus thirty charismata stats

"So, Su-san did you remember to turn the fire stones off?"

That sentence almost felt nostalgic to Subaru even though he couldn't quite put his finger on it

"Halibel, I use fire magic instead of fire stones... It just feels safer."

"Safer Su-san? You're telling me that a powerful fire spirit that has the potential to burn

down entire villages, is safer than small firestones?"

"Halibel those fire stones are dangerous, the last thing I want is for a Fantasy styled hand

grenade to explode in my face. At least spirit arts is more predictable."

"Su-san a basic understanding of these fire stones is more than enough to use them safely."

"..."

"..."

"... Yes, Halibel they are off, you don't need to worry about your house blowing up while we're

gone."

"See that wasn't hard to say."

"Yes, it was."

"Sure haha, what about the door?"

"What about it?"

"Did you lock it?"

"...yes, I locked the door to the rental."

"Ah good just making sure I don't want people breaking in and stealing... your stuff... like umm... those daggers you purchased."

Subaru in response pulled the two daggers out from his jacket

"Ah-Ha, guess you don't have much to get stolen."

"I agree, I would be more worried about your stuff, like the bed or-"

Halibel's Aura suddenly felt intense as if what Subaru just said insulted him

"Su-san, nobody steals beds... from me."

"Right... someone would either have to be extremely desperate, ignorant, or dumb to steal from you."

"Right, I would hunt them down, and ask them politely to return my stuff."

"And if they refuse?"

"... I would."

"Yes?"

"I would... go home and replace the item."

"Oh, that's unexpected I thought you would have stolen it back at least."

"Su-san you cannot be too sentimental. If I wasted my time with common thieves, then at least half a person by now would have wasted my time."

"Half a person?"

Subaru asked confused

"Yep, there was this one time someone tried stealing something from me, but they had no idea they were robbing someone as cool as me. Once they learnt whom they had stolen from they politely returned the item and never returned."

"What happened to him?" Subaru asked

"It was discovered that he was a part of the cult shortly after."

"..."

"You probably know what happened next."

"Death by torture, yeah... I have personally experienced it."

"Death?"

"...I was tortured you know this."

"Sorry to bring it up," Halibel replied with genuine regret

"... it is fine... eventually, I need to accept what happened and prepare myself, so it doesn't happen again."

"That's a good mindset. Your halfway to your goal."

"Are you sure about that? Halfway seems a little too generous."

"Of course, I'm sure, you have already identified what you need to do, and now you're going to do it."

"Yeah... if you look at it that way."

"How do you look at it?"

"I believe I'm never done."

"That's unhealthy."

"... I also look back at how far I've come."

"And?"

"I can say this for sure, I'm making great strides every day... for the last week or so."

"That's the spirits Subaru."

Halibel slapped Subarus back

"Wrong, these are the spirits."

Subaru had his six spirits manifest around him

Subaru laughed

Halibel laughed

Halibel smiled

as his secret goal of raising Subaru's mood succeeded

...

Subaru and Halibel had begun to enter the forest

The edges of the forest had a very low number of Ma-beasts.

So, they had to pass the time till they reached the centre

Halibel still seeing if he could get Subaru to ride his positive mood a little longer decided to ask about the forbidden topic

"Say Suu-san you were the one who defeated the white whale and the archbishop right?"

"Well, it was a team effort I mostly did the planning."

"Well, I've heard that your plans were easily the deciding factors between victory or losing."

"And how do you know this?"

"Tch, tch that's not important right now."

"... what is your point, why bring it up?"

Halibel smirked

"You see, a young lad like yourself could garner the attention of almost any lady he so desired to set his heart on. So tell me, do you fancy any ladies?"

"... T-that's private."

"Your blushing S-san"

"Well, it's just I can't be certain... I don't know If I'm ready to love again."

"Why do you hold doubt?"

"Well, you see... this girl she's really pretty and even saved me once."

"Pretty's a bit soft a word."

"She has the most divine heavenly In appearance... not only that she saved me... and I know she does care for me, I just need some time before I act upon these feelings."

"Can I have a hint to who this lucky lady might be?"

"She's a gorgeous half-elf... truly a Major Angle."

"Wow an elf, you must plan on living forever then. It is common knowledge that elves live for many more centres than humans... demi-humans... and most species... basically everyone who doesn't have a way of extending their life. Apart from spirits... giving enough mana spirits just don't die of old age."

"That sounds a bit exaggerated."

"I mean, I've never seen a spirit die of old age... have you."

"I mean are we going to rule out the possibility that one may have died of old age a long time ago and it just wasn't recorded?"

"Yes, we are going to rule out theoretical situations that have no evidence."

"Fine."

...

Three hours had passed since that conversation

Subaru and Halibel had ventured deeper and deeper into the forest

They had started to see more and more Ma-beasts

Subaru was able to make good use of his spirit's new power by obliterating ma beasts which made Halibel laugh

Subaru and his spirits were on a new high

It's a rare high

The high when you can tear through enemies like cardboard... or to Halibel paper since cardboard didn't exist

Of course, the high had died down long ago for Halibel but for Subaru, it was a great feeling

He was the one in control

And it was a good feeling.

"Hay Subaru this is our stop."

Halibel spoke bringing their journey to a stop.

"Finally, now we can relax a bit," Subaru said stretching

"Haha no."

Halibel said looking at Subaru seriously

"Not even a small rest?"

"Su-san it's time to start your training, your goal is to hit me once... no, twice before we leave this forest."

"... Very well I'll learn from you surpass you, then become the most powerful in the world."

"How ambitious now you better back those words up."

Day

0

Subaru stood alone in the forest blindfolded

Halibel had instructed that he trained with one spirit at a time

And the first volunteer to his surprise was Aeolus

Flashback:

"Now Subaru you have to pick one spirit to train with at a time"

"Fine, fine then I pick-"

"You pick me I suppose."

When Aeolus said this the other spirits spoke up voicing disagreements

"What no fair."

"I want to go first."

"I am a much better pick."

Aeolus hearing this puffed her metaphorical checks... At least that's what Subaru thought she did

"Listen, I would protect Subaru the best which is why I volunteered first. Not for any other reason than that."

"Hay Aeolus if you want to go first then you may."

Flash back end:

After deciding the spirit Subaru would train with Halibel decided to make Subaru wear a blindfold so he can learn to feel changes in movement

So, Subaru waited silently and patently

Aeolus and Subaru waited for anything to approach him

Subaru didn't like the idea of not being able to see with his eyes, but Halibel insisted that it would him understand wind magic better

So, Subaru would put his full trust in Aeolus and his instincts

Subaru with the guidance of Aeolus could feel the changes in the surrounding atmosphere

He could feel the branches sway in the trees

He could feel the heat difference around Halibel's pipe and the sounding air

And he could vaguely feel a new presence approaching from behind

Subaru wasn't experienced enough to determine what it was

But it was new, moving, and large

"FURA!"

Subaru through Aeolus shot blindly into the area he could feel something move

Thud

Subaru hit the ground

Thump, thump

After the wind blade hit the ground, it startled whatever was there and it was running... towards Subaru

Subaru could tell it was fast approaching but being such a novice, he couldn't pinpoint the exact location of the beast

So, he decided to do the only thing that made sense

"FURA, FURA, FURA!"

Subaru started spamming Fura spells in the general direction of the beast and-

"YELP!"

Subaru had successfully hit the ma beast

"I did it!"

Subaru cheered himself on

"Concentrate dummy."

Subaru suddenly felt a wind blade shot from Aeolus hitting something behind him

Subaru focused on what Aeolus hit and to nobody's surprise it was another MA beast

"Oh, thanks Aeolus."

"You put all your concentration on that one creature making you blind from all other angles. Try to not focus on one thing and just always feel the surroundings."

"You know, it's kind of hard to control a 360-degree field of vision, humans are not built to see behind them and in Infront of them at the same time."

"Stop complaining, as my contractor you should have already mastered wind magic by now since it is the most important type of magic."

"Ohh Winds are the most important. I doubt that."

"CONCENTRATE!"

But to Aeolus's surprise Subaru was concentrating, and to show it he wiped his hand backwards striking the ma beasts with a wind blade.

"Hmph, lucky shot."

"Oh, please that was skill."

"Do it again then."

And with this first step made Subaru and Aeolus would focus on helping Subaru develop some instinct

It wasn't easy... Subaru struggled to sense cold motionless objects

Like rocks and dead branches

Subaru tripped on a few rocks and snapped a few twigs which he mistook for an attacker

As you would expect Subaru's hearing, and sense of smell increased all thanks to not being able to use his eyes. But more importantly, when being assisted by Aeolus he could more or less feel the entire environment around him.

Subaru felt like one of those Ninjas from an anime he used to watch

"What was that show called again?" Subaru quietly whispered to himself

...

Subaru had spent 10 hours being blindfolded

During that time, he had increased his natural senses and had learnt to feel the surrounding environment to around 8 meters around him. It wasn't a perfect picture, the closer something was the clearer Subaru could sense it. At 8 meters he could hardly make out a blur but could still tell it was there.

Now it was time for Subaru to take the blindfold off and train with another spirit

While Aeolus rebuffed the idea of Subaru training with another spirit she soon gave up and allowed it to happen

Subaru grabbed his blindfold and tore it off

"...Oh god," Subaru said sounding concerned

"What is it I suppose."

"When did the sun get so bright?"

"... it's not... maybe you should take a moment to readjust your eyes."

"Yeah."

...

"Ok girls, my visions back which means I can continue training, sadly for today I only have enough time to train one more spirit... so who wants to go next."

"Please allow me to go next, I've been so bored waiting for you to finish your wind training," Toph asked politely

"You better pick me! I have been holding in so many emotions for these dogs, emotions that BURN with a fiery passion." Blaise said emitting heat from her excitement

"Hold it everyone, please listen to my reasoning as to why I should be next."

Eon requested

"Sure go ahead Eon if you have a good reason I don't see why not."

"Firstly Aeolus thanks for doing an adequate job at protecting Subaru, but now that you, my dear contractor have learnt a few techniques it's time you learnt to control your worst affinity."

"Water?" Aqua asked jokingly

"No... It's Yang magic. Since your natural magic is Yin, it affects your ability to use Yang magic without major help from me."

"Is that how it works?"

"Unless you naturally have an affinity for both Yin and Yang then yes. Nevertheless, worry not, this is nothing we can't work to overcome."

"Alright let's do it."

"BUT MY FEELING, MY BURNING PASSION!" Blaise yelled

"Geez, fine Blaise I will do you next."

"Yay."

...

Subaru and Eon meditated on top of a tree

Eon didn't want ma beasts to interrupt this training

But if the moment called for it, they could be used as target practice

"Subaru while I don't expect you to learn advance spells quickly, I want to test your focuses and insurance."

"How so?"

"Jiwald."

"Pardon?"

"I want you to cast a basic Yang spell Jiwald. But instead of a one and done spell Hold it for as long as possible."

"So just make a constant stream of light?"

"Yes, think of it like... *sigh* fire magic"

(The sound of a fire spirit cheering could be heard faintly)

"Nope then think of it as water magic, a constant stream of water... a waterfall. And don't worry about mana, this spell is a low-level spell, and you have plenty for mana in the six reserves."

"Gotcha, one long-lasting beam of light coming up, JIWALD!"

Subaru created a single beam of light out of his hand

Subaru held it for about 16.54 seconds

But then he felt it

The light... burnt... it hurt so much

Subaru stopped the spell from the shock at how intense the light was.

"OW, OW, OW that hurt a lot!"

"Subaru the longer the spell was active the faster it was burning your mana causing it to overheat."

"Ok that explains it, so how do I fix it?"

"Practise."

"... Oh, thanks that's helpful."

"Focus on your mana pool."

"How so?"

"Instead of thinking of letting it flow, try to hold back the waves of mana. Let as little out as possible. And if you, do it enough and understand the feeling you will be able to naturally, do it."

"So, if I keep spamming the spell, it will eventually come naturally?"

"That's a simple way of putting it but yes."

"Then Jiwald!"

So, Subaru continued to practice his Yang magic

This magic was hard to understand

It felt like it was trying to pull more mana out of Subaru's gate and reserves

So, Subaru had to try harder to hold it back

And soon with a little help from Eon Subaru could hold a beam of light for a minute

"Wow, that was exhausting."

Subaru was sweating excessively

The mana battle forced constant strain on his body and mind

"Subaru please continue, while admittedly you can already hold the beam much longer than almost every single Yang magic user that I have seen, with the amount of mana you have, you must be able to hold the beam for at least five minutes."

"Oh, and how many Yang magic users have you met?"

"Umm besides you... two and one was another spirit."

"Do *pant* you even know how taxing it is to use Yang magic?"

"I'm a Yang spirit I obviously understand Yang magic enough to know it's taxing."

"Is there a better way to control my Yang magic?"

"Besides practise no... I mean if you found an experienced Yang user that might help."

"The only one I know that comes to mind is... the clown."

"Who?"

'Not important because I am never associating with him again."

"Oh ok... well then all you can do is practise."

"*sigh* Jiwald"

...

Halibel was just enjoying his cigars

This little camping session was like a quiet getaway, for now, soon he would have to train Subaru after he did a little spirit arts training

Halibel soon discovered a comfy tree branch to lay on

The ma beasts couldn't get him

And it was mostly quite

In fact, one could... take a small nap

. . .

BZZZZZZ

"Huh?"

Halibel was awoken by a beam of light that priced the sky's

"Oh, my usually those beams last for a second at most... that's defiantly going to attract the attention of... I don't know the whole world... Su-san your powers are amazing... but sometimes you make choices that are just... stupid."

...

Roswaal P.O.V

Roswaal stared at the beam of light, eyes wide and mouth ajar

"Ooooooohhh~kayyy that's just not normal."

...

It was night-time

Subaru had kept blasting the sky with Jiwald beams

The beams were quite powerful

They didn't engulf the sky in light

But they did emit enough so the entire world could see it

But Subaru was ignorant to the number of kids he unknowingly kept up and the parents who were suffering because their kids wouldn't go to sleep now

"Haaa *pant* haa I, t-think that's enough"

Subaru collapsed to the ground exhausted

He used up most of his mana pumping beams of light into the sky

"Well Subaru I can confirm that you have made decent progress, shall we do this again tomorrow?"

"NO!"

Before Subaru could respond with no thanks, Blaise interrupted

"He's mine for tomorrow."

"Fine... hay Subaru are you going to move back to camp?"

"No."

"Why

"I can't and besides... but the ground is so comfy."

"Haha, Su-san It's probably a bad idea to sleep on the ground."

"O-oh Halibel what are you doing here?"

"Well, the beams of light stopped enveloping the sky, so I figured you were done, I was going to congratulate you on ruining my nap, however seeing you on the ground right now, is evidence that you truly tried your hardest... I'll give you a small reward of your choice."

"Carry me back to base."

"... Fair enough, you can't walk so ill do you this favour."

So Halibel carried Subaru back to base...

"Ahhh you know sitting up in a tree, laying down, there's a sought of comfort to it."

"You won't be saying that in the morning."

"Why not? It's so comfy."

"That's just the feeling of your body relaxing, by morning that feeling will be replaced with stiffness."

"oh... well that sucks but at least Aqua can elevate any pain or discomfort."

"About that Su-san, stop using your water spirit's water magic to heal your wounds, at least for training."

"Why, this allows me to train, hurt myself, heal up and train again."

"Because having an easy escape to pain makes you less afraid of getting hurt leading to you being more overly confident."

"... Very well... but only for training."

"If that's what you want then sure."

Subaru laid down and looked at the stars

He remembered that he was named after a star

His parents named him

... He wondered if his parents would still be proud of what he has become

Would they want him to get revenge?

"...no..."

Subaru whispered to himself

"It is not about their wants... it's about me... I carve my destiny..."

Subaru closed his eyes

"(I can only wonder) ......" Subaru thought to himself before drifting into a slumber

Week1

Subaru woke up at the crack of dawn

He was greeted by the sounds of birds singing their morning routine

It was a lovely choir

"...oh, Halibel was right."

Subaru stood up and proceeded to rub his stiff back

"I told you Su-san."

Halibel was already up smoking a cigar

"Jeez Halibel, do you even sleep?"

"Of course, I do, but my smoke time may soon be cut short, so I woke up early so I can smoke tomorrow and the day after tomorrow's smokes before I need to train you."

"Halibel... that's really unhealthy."

"*Cough* there's no evidence that proves that *cough*"

"(I wonder how long it takes a medieval-styled world with magic to discover that breathing hot smoke into your body is indeed harmful.)"

"*cough* Su-san you know... *cough* your spirit training is going a bit slow, why not train two spirits at once."

"I mean the point of individual training is to help me understand the magic itself better."

"What if two spirits could use similar or even identical magic?"

"Such as?"

"Fire and water."

Subaru wasn't impressed, water and fire are opposites... but Halibel even when high isn't an idiot, so Subaru decided to give him a second to explain

"...Explain before I leave."

"hehe *cough* Both elements can use ice magic."

"(Hold up Puck... is the great spirit of fire yet he killed me with ice... ohh my)"

"NOOOOOOOOOO"

Blaise cried out

"Blaise says noooo."

"Whats *cough* what's wrong?"

"I am a fire spirit, I am honoured to use fire magic, but using ice magic is just insulting to me and all fire spirits."

"Or just you" Aqua chimed in

"WRONG! Ice is frozen water... it's an insult to all fire spirits that you would even think of making us use ice branded magic."

"You know Blaise it is weird... I'm supposed to be the one who understands the magic... but I think Halibel's right, you need to learn and understand your magic even further."

"Of course, I'm right, and Su-san I can't hear what those spirits are saying, so this is a bit awkward."

"Me the powerful spirit of fire Blaise being forced to learn Ice magic?! My feeling... they scream for me to use fire, to express my burning desires and emotions towards any being unfortunate enough to enter my field of view. My desire to burn that is."

Subaru didn't want to do this, but time would probably soon run out... its time he abused his contact

"Blaise... as your contractor I order you to straighten up and learn ice magic, for use seven to become as strong as possible, then we can't cut ourselves off from potential options."

"B-but."

"Listen, I once knew a great spirit of fire."

"Liar!"

"Halibel, can you please confirm that I'm not lying please."

"He is not lying... wow he's not lying."

"...so?"

"This great spirit despite having the title of the great spirit of fire, only used water and ice spells... and he had the power to destroy the whole world."

"... what?" Blaise was shocked to her core

"Subaru-san?" Even Halibel was surprised

"Yes, and this spirit's name was Puck... I have experienced the power of this spirit twice now... and Blaise, if you truly try, you two might one day hold the same power as Puck."

"...Very well because of the contract and the promise of such great power... I Blaise will learn I-I-Ice magic *brrrr* I feel cold just saying it."

"Alright, Aqua we will probably need your guidance for this."

"*Sigh* I expected to only have one student... but I will try my best."

"Ok Halibl... bye and please control that smocking addiction."

"Why *cough* it's not hurting anybody."

"... you're going to die young."

"Eh I've already lived a full life *cough*

...

"USE HUMA BLAISE!"

"I am trying!"

"..."

What Subaru expected to be him and Blaise learning and understanding Water magic better, was just Blaise getting a private lesson from Aqua since Subaru cared for life, he was able to easily learn basic healing magic and he could honestly cast any low-level spell, even the easiest yang spell, but Subaru was more or less here to understand the magic not to learn a cool trick to throw at his enemies.

In other words, Subarus training was done

... Turns out the four basic elements are much easier to learn than Yin and Yang

"Blaise if you're struggling you are more than welcome to take mana from my gate."

"Subaru no, if she is allowed to easily overcome this trail, Blaise will never understand water magic."

"This isn't fair! Subaru had Eons help when learning Yang magic."

"Eon was simply a guide, not a power source."

"Still, this feels cruel."

"Blaise says the spell."

"Huma."

Smoke appeared in thin air

No hot steam

Subaru looked at this and had an idea

"Blaise... do you think waters hot?"

"...It is"

"(oh my Gawd) Hey try thinking about water being cold."

"Coldwater?"

"yes"

"That exists?"

"ARE YOU KIDDING?" Aqua got enraged

"What?"

"Either you're the dumbest spirit alive or you're the best actor ever."

"Hay... why the insults?"

"...Just think of cold water"

"I don't even know what that feels like how can I-"

Aqua splashed Blaise with a jet of cold water

"Now do you understand the concept of cold water?"

"... that was horrible who would want cold water?"

"You know, all living creatures like their water cold"

"Impossible."

"Just use the Spell while thinking of cold water."

"Huma!"

This time a melting ice shard manifested mid-air

"I did it! My first ice spell, soon I will have enough power to destroy the world!"

"I give it a D minus... even beginner humans do better on their first try than you... and there are just normal weak humans!"

"Calm down Aqua there is no need to insult humanity." Subaru interrupted

"L-lets just train Blaise till she can create an ice shard instead of a melting one... I mean seriously that thing would shatter on impact dealing zero damage."

...

"Huma!"

Blaise did it, she created a perfect ice shard

"You know what?" Blaise asked rhetorically

"What?" Answered Subaru

"This isn't half bad... in truth, I half expected to die from using water magic... but no I feel fine."

"So Aqua are we done here?"

"In truth, Blaise has only barely learnt to summon an ice shard that isn't melting... but seems to have learnt to understand herself and her magic better... so I will call this a success"

"Works for me... So Toph Shami?"

Toph manifested

"Subaru, we spent hours meditating together feeling the ground, there's nothing else I can teach you."

"Shami?"

"Well, I guess you and I can try to cast higher level spells."

"Okay, how many do you know?"

"Remember when we first met, I was a lesser spirit, same as everybody else... most of us only know basic spells so the fact I know even one higher-level spell is a miracle."

"What is it?"

"El Shamak"

"Oh, sure we can practise that together."

"You already know what it does?"

"Heh, I know what Al-shamak does."

"WHAT?! Such a level exists?"

"Yeah, I've seen it."

"Tell me what it does?"

"Well, it seems to make a portal of darkness that sends its victim to another place."

"And?"

"Umm, it also takes a lot of mana to use. Although when it was last used it was to send hundreds of killer rabbits away... maybe if it was a single target it would require less mana?"

"... Hold it we are getting off track."

"Oops hehe."

...

"El Shamak!"

A poor Ma beast was hit by the spell Subaru just casted

And it stopped moving

Almost as if it lost control over its body

"... that's cool but now what?"

"What?"

"I mean what's next?

"I have no idea... Let's fight Halibel."

"Hold it this feels... anticlimactic."

"...How so?"

"I mean training with my spirits was almost easy... besides Eons hell lasers I had to shoot, it was kind of easy."

"If It was easy then don't complain"

"*sigh* fine"

...

"*cough* so you want to fight me already?"

"yep"

"Eh sure, if you truly think you're done with spirit training, then let's do it."

"Halibel remember the goal you set for me?"

"yeah"

"Watch and feel me complete it."

"Try me Su-san"

...

Subaru and Halibel stood on the ground

Ma beasts were nearing, and the air was intense

Neither fighter made a sound

Halibel then took his cigar out of his mouth

Blew one final puff

Threw the cigar behind himself

And charged at Subaru

"Spirit team GO!"

Subaru manifested all his spirits ready to give his all

And they had a small plan

Overwhelm him with spells then surprise him with Yin magic

Simple true

But sometimes a simple plan is the best plan

Blaise shot fireballs at Halibel these were much stronger despite using the same amount of mana

Aqua was playing support acting as a pocket medic for Subaru

Toph would manipulate the earth to benefit Halibel to trip him up

Aeolus fired air blades from the affair acting like a sniper

Eon shot light beams at Halibel, and some had to be parried

Shami was on standby awaiting Subarus orders

And Subaru was both assisting in keeping the pressure up and looking for the perfect opportunity to strike

Subaru was also extremely grateful that Aeolus trained him

He was able to detect attacks from behind him making dodging easier

Halibel the decided to be more aggressive and charge Subaru

Subaru had planned for this scenario

"Shami cast Murak on me now!"

Shami was confused about what Subaru's plan was but obliged

Subaru then jumped but instead of flying into orbit he grabbed a high up tree branch

"Stop the spell!"

Subaru was normal weight again

He stood atop a large branch calling his six spirits to assist him

Subaru could see Halibel below him Halibel shook his head

Subaru knew why he did that, but Subaru saw this as a better place to fight

After all, it's either he's down a spirit or two as they fight off the ma beats as he fights Halibel on a large flat surface, or Subaru takes to the trees with six spirits on a smaller fighting ground.

Halibel began to move at crazy speeds

Halibel this time was moving faster than he's moved when training Subaru before

Subaru closed his eyes requesting for his spirits to increase the mana boosters he had.

Halibel charged at Subaru aiming to knock him off the tree

But Subaru quickly reacted stepping away making Halibel miss his mark

And as the shinobi fell, he threw 5 mana Infused Kuni's at Subaru

Subaru saw this and did his best to block them

However, despite Subarus ability to sense objects around him, he couldn't dodge them in time as one hit his left shoulder dislocating it

"AHHHH!" Subaru yelled

"Aqua quick heal me!"

"Right"

Subaru felt his arm heal quickly as is the magic of a full spirit

As Halibel hit the ground Subaru's shoulder was almost fully healed

"Nice trick old dog," Subaru smirked

Halibel just speed up even further

"Wah?"

Subaru couldn't see Halibel at all now he was moving faster than Elsa the bowel hunter.

"Shami you are an affinity that excels at debuffs, do you have anything that could slow Halibel down?"

"Subaru, I know a spell called vita, it makes things heavier."

"Use it on Halibel now!"

Shami cast the debuff on Halibel

Halibel felt the weight but that didn't stop him

Shami then surprised Subaru

"El Vita!"

Halibel for a second lost his balance making him trip over and fall

"Nice one Shami"

Subaru smirked

"Alright now use Shamanic."

Shami obliged

As the smack engulfed the forest Subaru took this opportunity to take out his daggers plunging them into the trunk of the tree he was on and sliding down.

Subaru landed on the floor a little hard but was mostly ok

Subaru instructed Aeolus to send El fura to where Halibel was last positioned

Aeolus did so and sent a wind blade at full velocity at that spot

And he heard it cut through something as blood sprayed

"Is he ok, I hope we didn't just kill Halibel?"

Subaru said worriedly

"Aeolus clear the Shamic now!"

Aeolus charged up a bit of mana and created a large shock wave clearing all the Shamic

And Subaru saw... a dead ma beast

Subaru was relieved to have not killed Halibel

Then he felt his shoulder getting tapped

Subaru tried to quickly react but was kicked hard in the back by Halibel

"a-aqua."

Subaru quietly said

Aqua understood and began to heal him

Halibel approached Subaru

"you said you wanted me to train you harder than I've ever trained someone. You want to break your limits and go beyond. Well then get up and attack me NOW!"

Hearing this Subaru grabbed a large rock he was next to using it as support to stand up

Subaru clenched his teeth in pain but fought through it

"Halibel I will hit and defeat you."

"Try it."

Subaru began to run towards Halibel and smiled

"Shami uses El vita once more and Eon it's your time to shine."

Shami quickly used her spell making Halibel 100kg heaver

Then as a follow-up attack

Eon unleashed his strongest offensive spell

"Jiwald"

Halibel didn't have time to react to the spell that was heading toward him at the speed of light

And all thanks to the combination of El vita weighing him down and Jiwalds light speed capabilities.

"

Halibel was finally hit

"Ahhh... good job Subaru."

Halibel stood up with a burn mark on him

"I'm impressed you managed to hit this old dog."

Subaru smiled extremely proud of his achievement

He didn't think it would work

Yet it did

Subaru was determined to do it again

"Watch out dummy!" Aeolus yelled

Subaru turned around to see multiple ma beasts heading his way

Fort for him Aeolus easily cut through them

"You may thank me I suppose."

"Thanks, Aeolus I owe ya."

Halibel stood tall

"Subaru what do you want to do now?"

Subaru turned to Halibel

"I want to continue training."

"Oh, you don't want to take a break, heal up, find food or water?"

"Ha, I have a water spirit with me, I don't need to find water. As for food well, I mean Ma-beast for me."

"Ahh, Subaru how could you eat another dog in front of me after so violently hitting me? Oh, woe me!" Halibel let more fake tears fall.

"Halibel stop with the fake tears and come train me, and don't worry We could always just eat a black-winged rat. I mean there are heaps of them it's a good thing they are so easy to kill."

"He saw through me again, and don't worry about it I'll eat the rats while you may eat the wolf gram, I don't consider myself in anyways related to the witch's creations but I'm still not going to eat it."

"Ok fair."

Subaru prepared to charge at Halibel again

And again

And again

Sharpening his senses

Perfecting his fighting style

Subaru trained with Halibel until he was bleeding out of most of his body

His daggers are covered by the blood on his palms

And dark cloak was covered with red spots from where Halibel hit him

That's right Halibel was now attacking with enough force to tear the skin and draw blood.

And by the end of the day, Subaru and Halibel rested on top of a tree.

Subaru was laying down exhausted

Halibel wanted to get a conversation started

"Hey, big guy, you actually managed to hit me once. You have no idea how long it's been since I've been hit. That makes it more impressive."

Subaru smiled

"Heh usually saying congratulations you hit me once in a fight is a huge insult... but coming from you is nice."

"Well, I am the strongest in Kararagi."

"For now,"

"Oh, I would love to see you get stronger than me."

Subaru smirked

"Oh, don't you worry I will Surpass you one day"

"Well, when you do, don't become a villain. Do you know how bad it would be for my reputation if I trained some nearly unstoppable villain?"

"Heh don't worry, while I like any other man have my bones to pick... I truly want to live a quiet life at the end."

Subaru sat up

"Thanks for the healing Aqua."

"You dummy, I've been healing you all day! At least try to not get so hurt."

"Aqua, this may surprise you but... each inquiry I get from this training, each time I hurt myself... I think of it not as an inquiry but as a progress mark. It's proof that I worked hard and learned something new. Even if you can just heal it away... the skills I pick up will stay with me forever and that's something to smile at."

"S-Subaru y-you dummy." Aqua was shocked to hear Subaru say such... genuine words sure he never really lied, but this was emotional as well.

"So Halibel what's tomorrow?"

"Hmm, the same thing. Ahh ok, Subaru went to sleep dreaming of different ways to hit Halibel."

Day 6 week 1

Subaru sat on the ground with Halibel next to a campfire that Blaise started

They were cooking Ma beast for dinner... again.

But it would make Subaru tougher

Halibel know Subaru was making incredible progress

He hadn't ever seen a human push themselves so hard

"Say Subaru, could you please get Aqua to produce some water for me?"

"Oh ok"

"Hay Aqua"

"Sure, thing Suba."

Aqua began to shoot water with the strength of a kitchen tap

Halibel opened his mouth and began to drink the water

"Ahh how refreshing that's Aqua" Halibel completed

Aqua just moved to Subaru she wanted him to thank her instead

"Thanks, Aqua, you are a lifesaver."

"Thanks, Suba."

Subaru didn't understand why but Aqua started to call him Suba after 4 days of training with Halibel.

But that didn't Concern him no the opposite.

After all, nicknames are the ultimate way of showing friendship

Subaru smiled as Aqua vanished

Subaru then readjusted his dark cloak

After so much training it had many holes and tears in it

If a random individual were to walk by they would think Subaru was homeless

Nope he's just been Training harder than Julius in the harshest condition possible

Subaru looked to Halibel noticing that besides the one spot he burnt Halibel's clothes were undamaged

"Hay Halibel, what's the secret to your clothes lasting so long?" Subaru asked wanting some casual banter with his Sensi

"Oh well Subaru it's simple really, firstly my clothes are high quality cause I put some money into mine. The second mine was designed to take a beating. And lastly, mine aren't made of thin cloth."

Subaru observed his cloaks depth

"*sigh* and I didn't bring any spare clothes, and I burnt my jack suit *sighhhhhhh*"

Eon manifested in front of Subaru

"Subaru, may I use restoration magic on your cloak?"

"What?"

"I'm a yang spirit so I can use restoration magic"

"Why didn't you tell me this before I almost became naked?"

"You never asked."

"Whatever just do it please."

"Fukugen Mahou"

To Subaru's surprise, his cloak began to fix itself

And when the spell finished it was almost good as new.

"Wow I hate to admit it but it's nearly perfect."

"I am a powerful yang spirit after all, and even so I wouldn't do a lacklustre job fixing Subaru's clothing," Eon said happily

Subaru looks to the stars

"It's another beautiful night, wouldn't you agree Halibel?"

"I've seen so many in my life Subaru. This isn't even in the top twenty."

"Well, you are older than me so makes sense."

Subaru closed his eyes

He was ready for week 2

...

Emilia, with the support of Crush's and Anastasia's camp, had arrived at Bannan

They had all seen the massive beams of light erupting from the nearby forest

And were worried that a mad spirit might be erupting mana

But they decided to ignore that if possible

Subaru was the there only goal

Julius walked behind Emilia instructing her in the direction of Subaru's house

Emilia was extremely nervous. She was finally about to meet her knight again.

"It's this way Emilia-sama."

Julius said a bit shaky

Being beaten to a bloody pulp in this location was something he wouldn't forget.

But if one beating felt that bad.

Julius didn't want to imagine how much anguish he and Felix put Subaru through each day.

Beatrice was walking by herself

Emilia wasn't worthy of being her contractor, only Subaru Natsuki was worthy of such a prestigious title.

"When this is over, I expect some punishment on the cat boy and knight I suppose."

Beatrice spoke out loud but slightly aiming it towards Crusch and Anastasia

Felix looked down knowing that whatever happened he deserved

"That's right, there better be some punishment for what they did to Rem's hero," Rem said

Crusch looked down a Felix with an empty look

"Worry not, when you get Subaru back, Felix will be fired from being my knight."

Felix hearing this felt his heartbreak into two

"Then he shall face the legal system, after all, no knight regardless of the situation should backstab a fellow knight." Crusch finished stoically

A few of the knights from each group nodded their heads in agreement, I mean Subaru wasn't even a normal knight. He was one of the best heroes of their time, maybe even better than Reinhard.

Emilia turned to Anastasia

"And what about your knight?" Emilia spoke coldly

"*sigh* my ex-knight will receive the same treatment as Felix. Fired then trialled through the legal system."

Emilia looked ahead not completely satisfied with this result but for now, it would suffice

"E-Emilia-sama Subaru's house is just over there," Julius said with all confidence leaving his voice

Emilia and Beatrice were the first to approach the house

"H-hello is Betty's Subaru here?" Beatrice spoke worried that they might see Subaru jump out the window and run away

Nothing...

"Hello! Is Betty's contractor home?"

Nothing...

Emilia spoke up

"S-Subaru it's me your Emilia-...Emilia-tan? Please talk to us."

Nothing

Rem walked up to the door

And turned the knob

it was unlocked... Subaru must have forgotten to lock it

Rem opened the door, Rem, and Beatrice immediately was hit with a faint smell of the witch and Subaru's unique Oder

"Subaru-kun" Rem whispered

Rem called out through the open door

"H-hello Subaru-kun, it's me, your Rem... I'm coming in."

Rem stepped in as Emilia, Beatrice followed as everyone else waited outside

Emilia was surprised that Subaru was living in such a small place.

It was also a very empty house

A bed

A table with two chairs

And a few out-of-date Appa's

Rem made her way to Subaru's bed

The bed covered in his sent

Rem saw the single pillow on the bed

She picked up a pillow

She put the pillow right up to her nose

And gave it a long sniff

"*sniffffffff*"

Rem's eyes widened as her desire grew more and more

Since she woke up all she wanted to do was reunite with Ram and Subaru

But shortly after she learnt that her hero might be dead

So smelling his sent both filled her desires and reassured her that his hero Subaru is alive.

But even better this would help her track down Subaru-kun

"Emilia-sama, I have found a trail of Subaru's smell, I can track him."

Emilia smiled with joy at this and put her hands together in excitement

"Excellent, soon we will all be reunited."

Beatrice was jealous of Rem

"Maid girl, give me that pillow I suppose!"

"Beatrice-sama?"

Beatrice gave a boring look

"I said give it I suppose."

Rem slowly and reluctantly handed the pillow to Beatrice

Beatrice gave it a sniff

"Betty's satisfied with this I suppose."

"May Rem please have the pillow back?" Rem asked

"No"

Rem pouted and started to fight Beatrice over who gets to hold the pillow

Emilia smiling at the two's antics went outside to deliver the great news

They would soon find Subaru

Subaru sat atop a tree

He had just dozed off to sleep when he felt a pair of arms grabbing his waist area and hugging him.

Subaru didn't open his eyes as he simply said

"Halibel you can't use me for warmth now go fond your own space."

"How are you calling Halibel?" A female voice responded

Subarus's eyes widened quickly looking at where the voice came from

And he saw... a little girl with long black hair, black shoes, and a cloak similar to his just without the hoodie laying on top of his chest.

"What the? Hmmm, little girl what are you doing here? In the Ma-beast forest on top of a tree... lying on me... err..." Subaru was struggling to get words out

The black-haired girl just giggled and hugged him tighter

"Can't you tell who I am by my beautiful looks?"

"N-no." Subaru stuttered

"Well, why not ask your spirits." Said the girl

Subaru called upon his six spirits

Yet only five appeared

"... wait a second." Subaru priced everything together

"S-Shami?! Is that you?"

"Took you long enough," Shami replied happily

"You are a great spirit now huh?"

"Yep"

"How do you feel?"

"Amazing, I truly never expected to reach this form ever."

"Well glad to help," Subaru said smiling

Shami hugged Subaru even tighter...

"How strong is Shami!?" Thought Subaru as this seemed to be another case of Loli' being stronger than they should be

Shami giggled

"Stronger than you dummy."

"Oh, right you can still read my thoughts," Subaru said a little embarrassed

Subaru gazed at Shami

This was truly a happy moment for Subaru

Subaru hugged back as he drifted off back to sleep.