Wow I was able to get this chapter done pretty quickly if I do say so myself, now I just want to be clear here, I don't cover to much of the training Magnus goes under because... Well I have a surprise for next chapter and you guys won't be able to guess what it is. I just hope you all like this next chapter and enjoy the mystery of some of the techniques that Magnus has been working on. Now I want to thank those who faved and followed it means a lot to see that people are enjoying the story, so thank you for that guys, and thank you for the reviewers, I like hearing from you guys I enjoy being able to see what you guys have to say about certain things, plus you guys can be great sources of info or even give great ideas. Now speaking of reviews... Time to answer them. Saberwolf155 Your right I should provide a list and its the same as Issei's and I may add more or new people depending upon requests or how well they fit the story. Blank Core Devil, sorry man but Magnus is stuck as a pawn but it isn't all bad if he becomes a high ranking devil he also becomes a king and can form his own group. Darth56 thank you for the kind words friend. Ace I like your choice in music and sadly no I am not catching the fight I have to work that night, however I may try and record it. As for Riser not kissing his queen I went with the Manga approach to make Riser more of a creep. As for the clients I am not sure I may add one or two as a joke here and there but you will have to wait and see and also your welcome I am glad people like it. Now everyone I need to get stared on the next chapter because it is the Rating Game! Then after that well you all know what happens next. Anyway I will see you guys later!


Ten days… Ten days to train and achieve the Scale-Mail armor. Yeah, I can do this… I hope. No don't think like that Magnus I will get that power, I will help free Rias from Riser. Packing up all the clothing I would need and a few other things I headed down stairs where I met the rest of the club, for some reason they all decided to meet up at my place before going to our 'training' camp. As I got down the stairs, I was a little surprised to see everyone wearing well normal clothes. Rias was now wearing a blue t-shirt with a beige over shirt, short cargo shorts with long gray socks and hiking boots. Akeno wore a button up shirt, with the same over shirt that Rias wore and a tie, along with short blue shorts and purple tennis shoes. Asia was wearing a long blue shirt with pockets near the bottom with white around the collar and edge of the pockets, white shorts and black shoes. Kiba was wearing a red checkered flannel shirt as a jacket and a white t-shirt, light brown pants and some tennis shoes, then there was Koneko who wore a simple white long-sleeved shirt, blue shorts with white on the sides.

Me I was wearing the same outfit that I wore when I went to go and rescue Asia, I don't know why but something about it seemed right.

"There you are Magnus, I was wondering when you were going to get down here." Rias smiled slightly at me.

"I just had to finish packing up a few things." I said shaking my head with a chuckle. "Now let's get going."

Nodding everyone picked up their bags and headed for a rather large car which would drive us to where ever we were supposed to go. During the car ride, I gave my phone to Koneko, see turns out our favorite silver-haired freshman liked rap and hip-hop and lucky for me I had the Epic Rap Battles of History downloaded on my phone. So, she had something to do while on the ride there. Kiba and I both talked about some of the sword training stuff he wanted to do with me with a mixture of pokémon talk thrown in.

While me and Kiba were speaking, Asia, Akeno and Rias made small talk with one another but every once in a while, I noticed that Rias would steal a glance at me just to make sure I was alright. Shaking my head, I smiled whenever I caught her eye. I knew she was just checking on me but still it was nice to know she cared. Anyway, the car ride lasted for a couple of hours and when we stopped I found that we were far outside of town. In fact, if I had to hazard a guess we were close to the mountains.

"Here, we are." Rias said looking around. "Kiba, Magnus, Koneko would you mind carrying the gear?"

"Yes Rias." The three of us said going to the back of the car. Kiba and I both grabbed two rather large bags, and Koneko… Well she grabbed a bag that was five times her size…. Okay how was that even in the back of the car… In fact, who was driving the car… And now I will never know as the car was gone. "Why wasn't I paying attention to who was driving us?"

"Because you're an idiot." Koneko said playfully.

Rolling my eyes, I gently nudged the smaller girl. "Anyway, let's go."

Laughing the rest of the group all started to walk up a mountain trial, as we walked or hiked I looked around taking in the beauty of the world around us. "You just don't get to see sights like these back home. This is simply beautiful."

"Oh that's right you come from a city right? So, you're not used too country side much." Kiba said as he walked besides me.

"Mhm, I do, I come from Los Angeles."

"The city of angel's kind of ironic place for a devil to call home." Rias smirked as she turned her head toward me.

Giggling Akeno shook her head. "It is, isn't it? Of course, it would be funnier if he was an angel from Las Vegas."

"Well I think it suits him, I mean he is a nice guy after all." Asia smiled brightly.

Blinking I felt my cheeks heat up which stopped me for a moment, just then Kiba started to move past me. "On your left." He said with a grin.

Frowning I picked up the pace and caught up with him. "Sorry Captain America but you're not getting the better of me."

Laughing the two us kept trying to match one another for speed until Koneko blazed past us. "Move it." She said with a small grin.

"I dare say that Koneko got the better of us this round." Kiba shook his head with a smile.

"I guess so." Laughing Kiba and I caught up with the girls and soon we found ourselves standing in front of a massive white mansion, it looked to be of European make to be honest but I wasn't an architect so what do I know? The place also had a small pond and a cool looking white gazebo as well. Letting out a whistle I couldn't help but feel impressed, this was perhaps one of the nicest places I had ever seen.

"It's so beautiful." Asia said in awe.

"Thank you, now come on everyone let's get this training camp started." Rias motioned for all of us to follow her inside and directed us all to our rooms, it looked like the Kiba and I were now roommates for our time here. As we were all unpacking our stuff and getting changed I couldn't help but wonder what kind of training did Rias have in store for us. As Kiba and I were changing into our workout clothes… Well for him it was a track-suit… (Seriously what is it with people and tracksuits.) I changed into the normal outfit I wore when I was sparing with both Kiba and Koneko. Suddenly something came to mind and I wanted to know the answer.

"Hey Kiba… A while ago you mentioned that you hate fallen angels, just wondering what did they do to you?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "I don't mean to drag up ancient history but- "

Shaking his head, the blonde sighed. "I rather not talk about it, but suffice to say it shouldn't matter. We need to be totally focused on the present not the past if we're going to win this rating game."

In other words: Touchy subject. Dropping the subject... Now, nodding I went back to putting away my things. "Got it man." After finishing getting ready the two of us headed outside and thus began our first day of ten day stay in the training camp from hell.


We all did special training with everyone, while I was a bit far ahead of Asia when it came to physical combat I was allowed a chance to exercise and practice by myself which worked for out well for me… However, when it came to magic both Asia and were in the same boat. While I had access to dragon magic I still needed to learn how to do it the devil way. Which meant learning to make my desires come to life and forcing my will through it.

"You need to visualize it coming forth Magnus." Akeno explained for the tenth time.

"I'm trying but whenever I try to do magic it just comes up as dragon fire." Sighing I rubbed the bridge of my nose and found a chair to sit in. "I just don't get it, this shouldn't be that hard."

Smiling sadly Akeno patted me on the head. "It's okay you'll get it I'm sure. I mean look at Asia she got it down in no time."

Looking over at the former nun I nodded, the girl was floating a small green ball of light around and changing it from fire, to water, to ice and back into its light form. I had to admit I was a little jealous she was able to get this devil magic thing down before me but at the same time I was happy for her. "True, I just need to work on it. I have no problem picturing what I want but the devil magic just doesn't come to me."

"Maybe because we're looking at this from the wrong way." Rias said coming into the room with a smile on her face. "Magnus come with into the yard, Akeno keep working with Asia."

Looking between the two older girls I shrugged and headed outside where I found both Kiba and Koneko waiting for me, Kiba had his sword belt on, while Koneko was wearing her gloves. Raising an eyebrow, I turned to Rias waiting for an explanation. "Okay I'll bite what's going on?"

"I think I figured out your problem with when it comes to devil magic Magnus." Rias smiled as she crossed her arms across her chest. "You see, you use devil magic all the time whether you noticed it or not."

Blinking I shook my head. "I have?"

"That's right, Magnus what language are we speaking right now?" Kiba asked with a smile.

"English…" I started to say but stopped. Ever since I became a devil everything I saw, read and heard was in English. "You mean to tell me that as a devil I can understand different languages?"

Nodding Rias looked very happy that I came to that conclusion. "There you go, you also use devil magic whenever you go out at night, it's why you can see well in the dark, or when you're fighting. The promotion power is a form of devil magic as well."

"That makes sense, but I still have no idea why I'm out here." I said putting my arms behind my head.

Smirking Koneko punched one of her fists. "We're going to fight you."

"For real!? How is that going to help me?" I asked looking at Rias who was still wearing the same smile on her face.

"Simple enough Magnus, you're going to have to fight them but you can only use devil magic, like Akeno. Which means no promoting for the fight, no sacred gear, martial arts and no dragon magic, and to make sure you follow these rules I will be watching the entire time." Rias said using her 'boss' voice.

Yep she was serious this time. Sighing I nodded my head and turned to face my opponents. "Um… Shouldn't Kiba use a practice sword?"

"I believe that the best way to help properly motivate you to use devil magic, is that I need to make this as close to real combat as possible." Rias sighed. "Now enough stalling, begin!"

Blinking I stared at Kiba and Koneko the first one had drawn his blade while the second advanced upon me. Crap…. Taking a deep breath, I tried to picture anything… Something to help me get out this situation, but nothing came to mind… "Holy Crap!" I shouted as I jumped out of the way to avoid getting sliced by Kiba's sword. "Come on man give me a minute-Double crap!" Jumping over Koneko I avoided my nuts getting turned into a million pieces by the silver-haired teen. I guess they weren't going to give me a moment to catch my breath here.

Dodging another attack from Koneko and a ducking underneath Kiba's sword swings, I knew that I couldn't keep this up forever. I needed to go on the offensive but I had limited options here.

Forcing myself to think quickly I thought about all the times I promoted myself, the feeling I would get before the power of the pieces came into my body, there was always this… Light tingling sensation that crept up my spine. Focusing on that feeling I pictured the thing I wanted most right now, and that was Kiba's sword to be gone. While I know the guy wouldn't hurt me on purpose I didn't want an accident to happen… And that is when it happened. That tingling feeling traveled up the length of my spine and through my out stretched arm and a gust of wind shot out and blasted the blonde's sword out of his hand.

Blinking in shock I stared at my hand in shock. "Did I do that?"

"Yes you did." Koneko said slowly walking up to me and patting my arm.

"I knew you could do it Magnus, you just needed the right motivation." Kiba smiled as he collected his sword and sheathed it.

Feeling a hand on my shoulder I turned around to find Rias smiling brightly at me. "You did good, though I will admit I was a little surprised that you used wind magic."

"Is that bad?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not at all, just surprising, I was expecting fire, that's all. Now Magnus can you do it again?" Rias asked me with a simple turn of her head.

Focusing on the feeling again I raised my hand out toward the small pond that was on the other side of the property and pictured the water being held aloft in the air and… It was working, a small tiny cyclone was holding up some water. "Wow… I can use devil magic now…" Shaking my head I dropped the water back into the pond.

"Congrats Magnus, now that you have a basic handle on your magic, you can move on to the next step." Rias smiled a little to happily for my liking.

Frowning I stared at the red-head. "Oh? And what's that?"


"Kitchen duty…" Grumbling I shook my head. "Can't believe it…"

"It isn't so bad Magnus, at least we can cook dinner together." Asia smiled at me as she heated up some water with her magic.

Nodding I went back to what I was doing, which was peeling and slicing the veggies, using my new-found devil wind magic I was able to clear the skin's and slice the vegetables no problem. "I will admit this does make it easier to do things, but that doesn't make it right." I shrugged slowly putting the chopped veggies into the pot of boiling water.

"What do you mean Magnus?" Asia asked as she slowly put the meat into the pot.

"It's nothing." I shrugged with a smile. "I just prefer cooking without magic, meh don't mind me" Patting Asia on the back I started to work on a side dish of rice while she kept on working on the stew. A few minutes go by and finally everything was done, grabbing the food Asia and I took everything and went into dining room where the rest of the gang were waiting for us. Setting everything down we all helped ourselves to a well-deserved meal. As we ate our food we all discussed what our plans for training tomorrow will be. Rias said that sometime later she will have us all start working in teams, and having us build up good working combo attacks. After the meal Asia cleaned the dishes and then the entire group took a bath… Not together mind you there was a separate section for guys and gals, Kiba and I relaxed on one side, while all the girls were on the other.

Enjoying the nice hot soak, I sunk myself into the water, just leaving my nose and the top of my head exposed I closed my eyes with a smile.

"This is nice." Kiba chuckled as he leaned back against one of the walls.

Raising my head out of the water I nodded. "I may have to come in here twice it feels so good."

Laughing Kiba shook his head. "Magnus you didn't work up enough of a sweat to warrant two visits to the bathhouses."

"Not yet I haven't." I grinned at the blonde.

"What do you mean by that? Are you planning on something?" He asked staring at me questioningly.

Chuckling I closed my eyes and leaned back. "Guess you'll never know."


Later that night after everyone was asleep I slowly snuck out of the large mansion and headed for a small lake that I found out was nearby, I figured that would be the best place to keep up with my new training. It took me nearly an hour of walking but I finally found it and the lake was connected to a waterfall. Looking around I grinned. "Seems perfect, don't you think so Ddraig?"

It should suit our purposes, but just be warned I am not sure this idea of yours will work.

"Have a little faith buddy, plus out here we can make our own techniques and not burn the forest down while doing it. It's a win, win situation here." Shrugging my shoulders, I slowly started to stretch out before holding out my left arm. "Okay Ddraig, here we go! Boosted Gear!" Shouting out my left hand was incased in a red light and soon the sacred gear appeared over my left hand. "Perfect, now let's see… Ddraig if you were to rank my current power, how close would I be to the Scale-Mail?"

I would say, you have a long way to go, despite the progress you have made since becoming a devil your powers are not what they should be. You have a long way to go before you come even close. To be honest I'm not sure the ten days will be enough.

Frowning I nodded. "Got it, so let's work extra hard, then shall we?" Getting a conformation from Ddraig I spread my arms out wide and summoned the dragon flames, however this time I spread the fire all around my body, forming a protective cocoon as it were. Slowly I stepped inside of the water and watched as the water boiled and hissed into steam. Maintaining the fire, I closed my eyes and forced the fire underneath my feet while maintaining the shield and shot off toward the waterfall. The moment I heard the water hiss as my fiery shield touched I opened my eyes and flipped around and rocketed back out away from the waterfall and landing safely into the lake. Panting heavily, I repeated the process several times as I got used to the loss of energy. Panting softly, I shook my head and dropped into the water, letting go of the fiery shield I grinned.

"I think this is coming along… Pretty well."

"Magnus?"

Turning around I blinked and shook my head. "Asia what are you doing out here?"

"I saw you leave and I got worried." The blonde said a little nervously.

Standing up I slowly walked over to her and smiled. "Well don't worry I'm fine but can you keep what I'm doing a secret?"

"Of course, but why?" Asia aside with a small frown.

"Well you see… I'm trying to unlock something that could give us an edge in the Rating Game, but I don't want anyone to know about it just in case I fail." I explained to her with a small frown.

"Oh, alright, but if you need my help let me know please." Asia smiled up at me.

Gently placing a hand on the smaller girl's shoulder, I nodded. "Of course, now, come on I will walk you back to the mansion. I think I did enough training out here tonight."

We still on for our normal training session partner?

Nodding I smiled down at Asia, I rather her not know that I was far from done. Is it wrong to keep secrets from friends? Yes, but this kind of secret could save all our butts.


The following day was like yesterday but it did involve a lot of team work fighting, which meant I was paired up with everyone and helped cover them in certain areas. Like where Koneko was strong I needed to be fast and take out far off or magical enemies, while with Kiba I had to act as his tank, and for Asia I had to be both, since she was our healer and didn't fight that often. However, when the day was ending Rias had us all gathered up and taught us newbie… AKA Asia and myself the history behind the Rating Games, Rias even had the former nun talk about some of the stuff she did for the church in her past life. In the end, it was rather interesting but boring at the same time. Well after making sure everyone was asleep I went straight back to work doing what I did the other night with some changes thrown in, I started to practice more with my devil magic trying to find ways I could make it work in combat.

After finishing up my evening training I walked back toward the mansion, once back inside I headed toward the kitchen and snagged myself a glass of water. Draining it rather quickly I made my way toward the baths which were just past the entryway when I saw someone coming down the stairs. It was Rias, she was wearing a slightly see through night gown with a pair of reading glasses on her face and a book in her arms. You know she looked cute wearing those glasses on her face. Focus Magnus, focus.

"Magnus?"

"Hey Rias, why are you still up?" I asked feeling rather confused, I figured everyone was asleep expect for me. "It's getting kind of late, isn't it?"

Chuckling softly Rias smiled at me. "What perfect timing, I needed to chat with you about something anyway."

Shrugging I figured my second bath for the night could wait and followed her outside to the gazebo, where she explained to me the battle plan for the Rating Game. It wasn't a bad plan that is for sure and to be honest it was the best we had to work with.

"That's not a bad plan." I told her honestly.

"Thank you but we both know it isn't a very good one I'm afraid." Rias said reading through her book while sitting up next to one of the pillars. "According to this manual, we still have a lot to be worried about."

"Well that's true but there is one thing that book didn't account for, and that is me." Grinning widely, I caused Rias to laugh. "But seriously you busted your hump making the plan, it should do fine."

Rias shook her head with a small smile. "The problem is we don't know how the enemy will react. Let tell me what we're up against. Phenex and let me assure you the name is most appropriate, a devil but he is also a marquis counted among the 72 pillars. We got our work cut out for us." Rias said closing her book. "His ability is the same as the beast his family is named after. Immortality."

"Okay, how is that even possible? Is an immortal being even allowed?" I asked with a small frown.

"It just is, he's indestructible, and he regenerates immediately following an attack, Riser's win loose ratio is 8 to 2. However, those two losses were accepted out of respect for a family he's close to. He lost on purpose." Rias kept on explaining. "Ever since the Rating Games went into effect the house of Phenex has dominated the playing field. They always had the highest score, can't say I'm surprised, how are you supposed to lose if your immortal?"

Sighing I looked down feeling like a complete dick. "And again, it's all my fault, if I hadn't tried to pick a fight then none of this would have happened."

"Magnus, how many times do I have to tell you, I'm grateful to you. Thanks to you I will be able to tell my father and the others where to stick it. They set up this game because they all anticipate me losing, but now I will be able to change the score and prove them all wrong, in our chess this is called a swindle or entrapment if you prefer."

Frowning I sighed slightly. "Well to be honest I'm glad you're not going with the marriage proposal, it's stupid, and it took guts to refuse."

Reaching up Rias took off her glasses. "The proposal was to the heiress to the house of Gremory. Because of my title I'm not ever recognized as Rias." The red-head said standing to her feet and walked to another pillar and leaned against it. "The house of Gremory will always come before me, I've learned to adjust for it and make personal decisions accordingly. Make no mistake my title is something I will always take pride in, but when it comes to the subject of marriage I want to share that with someone as Rias not for how my status can improve their life. Otherwise they may as well marry the house. I understand that history is not in my favor, and the idea of love may just remain a dream but it's one I would like to keep."

Staring up at Rias I was suddenly reminded of the dream I had involving the two of us getting married and shook my head. "Well you know what? I like you for you Rias I couldn't give a crap what your name is. The Gremory name doesn't define you and it's just an empty title and you know it, and anyone who says different is wrong and doesn't know who you are. Your smart, funny, you have a cute smile. Your kind to everyone, including goofballs like me. You even saved my life and I just hope one day that I can repay you for everything." I said looking up at her with a smile.

Gasping slightly Rias blushed brightly and stared down at me in shock.

Turning my head, I stared at her for a moment. "What? Did I say something weird?"

Shaking her head Rias smiled and fully turned to face me. "No, anyway the point is if we going to fight, we're going to win."

"Well come on you're the Crimson Haired Princess of Ruin, no one and I mean no one ends up with a name like that by collecting bottle caps." I grinned which caused Rias to smile slightly at that. "So who cares if some loser is named after a magical bird. With me, Koneko, Kiba, Akeno and Asia at your back you can't lose."

"Thank you, Magnus. Now you know where I get my strength. When I fight all of Gremory fights with me, but if I lose then so does Gremory. Wining is the only option." Rias said as she stared down at me.

"Then win we shall." I smiled staring up at the girl before lowering my head. "I just hope that I can get stronger for you."

"Magnus your strong enough- "

"No, I'm not." I said looking up. "Even at my max Riser flattened my ass, I need to become stronger. Not for me but for you. All I want to do is be strong for you."

Stepping down from her spot Rias Gently wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a very tight hug and gently ran her finger through my hair. Slowly I wrapped my arms around her and together we stood in the light of the moon enjoying each other's embrace.

"You should get to sleep Magnus; your body and mind have gone through a lot today." Rias said slowly pulling back.

"Only if you go as well." I said staring down at the red-head.

Shaking her head with a smile Rias nodded. "Fine, goodnight Magnus."

"Goodnight Rias." Watching her walk back toward the mansion I took a deep breath and closed my eyes and slowly let it out. "I promise you Rias I will free you from this, even if it kills me."