Chapter 31: Lightning

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He watched dully as Akeno charged up one last lightning spell, knowing that this next one would be the last.

He sighed, closing his eyes and focusing on the remaining energy inside him. There wasn't much left, but at least he wouldn't be knocked unconscious this time after using it.

As Akeno fired the lightning, Lelouch held out his hands in front of him and focused. "Negate." A shield began to take form in front of him, blocking the lightning strike entirely at the cost of about ninety percent of his remaining reserves.

The shield that appeared before him was pitch black in color. It was a large magic circle, large enough to defend his entire body if necessary, with a single white sigil he recognized all too well in the center.

It had been the symbol of his Black Knights after all, though he wondered why his shield would have that marking in its center.

The only reason he could discern was that it was what he considered his personal Seal which was reflected in his magic circle.

Similar to the Gremory sigil that Rias had appear when she cast her spell to obliterate the Stray the previous week or when it had appeared the other times he had seen her magic circle.

He panted, allowing the shield to dissipate after Akeno's attack was over and the lightning faded. He ignored her taunting, grasping onto the tree behind him to help him stand up.

He nearly stumbled, before Akeno caught him and helped him over to where Kiba and Koneko were sitting and enjoying their food.

Koneko had once praised the quality of his cooking so highly before the rest of the club a while ago that they all wanted some taste of his legendary cooking.

He personally thought they were making a big deal out of nothing, he genuinely didn't think he was that good a cook just because he was a perfectionist.

The rest of the ORC vehemently disagreed, even Issei who didn't like him very much, had all agreed that his cooking was by far the best they'd ever had. And now he was a designated cook for group events, including his own training sessions.

Koneko handed him the remaining food in her box, adding it to his own pile of three, to help him regain his energy. She, and the other two knew just how draining his shield spell could be.

He estimated he had about three to five percent of his full power remaining. Just enough to stay conscious to eat and regain at least a little bit back before going home to rest and recover through the night.

He dug into what was left of Koneko's food, about as quickly as she had eaten his pancakes, before moving on to the other three filled boxes.

Negate was by far his most draining spell, the opposite of Void Shot which didn't even use a full percentage of his power without his intention due to how efficient he had made the spell.

Depending on the power of the spell he was blocking, his Negate spell would use anywhere from less than one percent to one hundred percent of his remaining energy to "negate the concept of attack and damage" to prevent it from reaching him. The idea Lelouch had behind creating it was to essentially make the ultimate shield.

In theory, it countered the force of the attack with a shield of exactly equal power in order to zero out its effect and protect him.

The downside was that it was simply theory. In reality, once it was activated it would stop the attack or drain him dry in the attempt so he had to be able to either know about the spell beforehand or analyze it before deciding whether to block it or simply try and dodge.

As Lelouch ate, he considered everything that he had learned. While his power was only growing slower with Contracts, he already felt himself recovering faster as he ate.

"Contracts really are for new Devils, aren't they?" He murmured aloud, drawing the other three's attention.

"I mean, Issei grew stronger after fighting off a single Fallen Angel." He pointed out. "And I already feel stronger from this training session than when I complete a normal Contract." Akeno looked at him appraisingly as Kiba chuckled.

"That is true." Akeno nodded, biting into her own meal. "Pacts," she looked at Lelouch curiously as she picked up on the difference in how they phrased the same thing before tucking the thought away for later.

"Are a way for newer Devils to get stronger, but the more powerful you get the less you gain from each one." She chewed her own food slightly, thinking over her words.

"That's not to say they're unimportant. Devils still do them because power is power, no matter how small the increase." She shrugged, adjusting the top of her uniform carefully after so it didn't fall off.

Having the back of her shirt damn near destroyed made it difficult for it to stay on if she moved too much.

"Still, I think I'd rather focus on training." Lelouch made his decision known, having thought it over the past few days.

"Contracts aren't doing much for me and Issei could probably use all the help he can get since he has yet to complete a single one.

" Yet, from all he heard from Rias and Akeno, the perverted boy had some of the happiest customers out of the group, with only Koneko being more popular to call upon.

Training like this was painful as hell, pun intended, but he could feel himself growing in strength far faster than with just Contracts.

He may have hated physical activity with a passion, but he disliked the idea of ending up weaker just because he didn't enjoy training as much as others.

Lelouch saw little point in continuing with his Contracts for the moment, knowing that he needed to work more on the two spells he had developed over the past week or so if he wanted to advance as quickly as he wanted so he could start developing stronger spells.

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