12: Training Day

As far as things had gone, the meeting went well. Everyone returned to the manor after checking on Ritsuka for any injuries. Aside from his elevated body temperature he was fine. He trudged up the stairs to take a shower while everyone else discussed what they needed to do to prepare.

Ritsuka stepped out of the shower wiping the fogged up mirror to really look at himself. He had been frightened the moment those flames had touched him. The potion was something he had made at a moment's notice. He didn't exactly have all the materials in the world in grand supply. His eyes seemed… distant as he looked at his reflection. The tired resignation he had while in Chaldea was now replaced with worried anxiety.

It had been fifteen days since the Rayshift incident. Fifteen days without anyone from Chaldea knowing where he was. Whenever he used a class card it felt like he was telling his servants that he was fine. Those moments eased his own mind even if using them did mess with his head slightly. There were no subliminals within them nor were there mental commands attached. They were just heavily steeped in the emotions of their original being.

Ritsuka changed to his Arctic Chaldea Mystic code replacing the New Years one since he needed the mobility for what was to happen next. Rias wanted everyone to train. She paused when she looked at him but seemed to push whatever thoughts had come up for later.

'Kiba can be faster, Akeno can have more control, Koneko can be stronger, Rias I'm unsure of and Asia needs everything.' Ritsuka mentally summarized. He had an idea for at least Kiba and Koneko. Rias and Akeno were a bit more difficult because he needed to choose the right magic users that would compliment them. Asia, well, he had plans for Asia's training.

Ritsuka stepped out of the bathroom and returned downstairs. He needed to see what Rias had decided on.

"As far as I can tell you need a lot of conditioning, Asia." Rias patted the young girl on the head who mumbled apologies for factors she couldn't control.

"That's fine. For now her abilities make her a healer. As she grows she'll be more." Ritsuka called out as he looked over his options.

"So we should figure out how to do this. I was expecting that we would have more days but this Saturday wasn't in my calculations." Rias muttered under her dejection. She wasn't as confident as she could be now.

"Don't worry. We'll win." Ritsuka cut off her pity before it could get any further. "I have an idea of how much stronger I can make you all with training even if we only have four days."

"Enlighten me." Rias smirked through her exasperation. She needed to see something tangible at this point since everything was being pushed too fast forward.

"Well, let's start with Kiba against me. I'll do combat sparring with him and Koneko first. Asia can do conditioning with you and Akeno. It would split the responsibility easily enough for us to get results." Ritsuka suggested as he turned to Kiba and Koneko who both seemed eager to start.

"Another spar? Like last time?" Rias questioned as Akeno took Asia aside and started walking her through push ups.

"No. This time I'll be fighting fully and with my magic as well." Ritsuka scratched his cheek. "I won't hold back and your goal is to survive."

"That seems harsh." Rias quickly pointed out making Ritsuka back up in worry.

"Yes but if you want results in a short amount of time then drastic measures are needed. It's basically my training regiment but enhanced by what I do. I'll even tell you what my magic is." Ritsuka hung the small bait out and let curiosity do the work for him.

"Ooh~ really?" Akeno sang sung as she helped Asia with her posture. She had stopped because of the juicy details she was now hearing.

With all eyes on him again, he could feel that same pressure on him. He needed to make sure that he said his skill set in a way that would be easy and vague enough to follow.

"So my magic basically invokes spirits into my body allowing me the breadth of their skills and abilities." Ritsuka mentioned in the vaguest terms possible, he was hoping that that would make the others fill in the blank for him.

"Oh, so you're a spirit mage then? Summoning familiars to do battle for you but with a twist." Rias clarified making Ritsuka mentally cheer that it had worked in his favor.

"Exactly, my body is the conduit for that." Ritsuka agreed quickly though he didn't account for the worried look that appeared on Rias' face.

"But how do you handle the mental pollution that comes from vengeful spirits trying to take over your body?" Rias questioned which Ritsuka was glad it was something mundane like that.

"Each spirit I worked with I made friends with first. They're actually really good most of the time… even if I get exasperated by their eccentricities…" Ritsuka chuckled mirthlessly and his gaze trailed off into space. It was probably something that made him very annoyed as far as everyone could tell.

"And these spirits are from your world?" Akeno started prying for more information keeping her interest at lower levels.

"Yes. It had to do with my job at Chaldea. I was pretty good at it too, for some weird reason." Ritsuka shrugged which made it clear that there was more to it but to let it go at that point. Rias nodded but the trepidation was still on her face.

"Will this really make us stronger though?" Rias' voice quavered slightly. The eminent competition was weighing heavily on her mind since it would decide her fate.

"Yes." Ritsuka answered with his natural smile and a quiet nod. He didn't need to say more than that.

"I'm in your care Ritsuka." Kiba bowed as he pulled out a wooden sword. It was something Ritsuka had suggested to keep things from going out of hand. Asia could heal them but everyone wanted to make sure she was conditioned enough to handle the strain of a fight against another Peerage group.

"Okay… I'll be fighting you with three different styles. A match will last about five minutes and I'll be going all out from start to finish." Ritsuka placed the rules all out.

It was at that moment that everyone noticed that Ritsuka's eye color had changed. Now that they knew he was summoning a spirit to use their skills, his constant changing eye color made complete sense.

With a lowered stance Ritsuka raised his blade horizontal above his head. He looked ready to pierce through any obstacle and his slightly grey eyes seemed to radiate a certain bloodlust behind them.

Kiba silently gulped as he realized why Sirzechs had been worried about Ritsuka's gaze. There was so much intent hidden with how piercing it was that intimidation only seemed to be the tip of the iceberg.

"Begin!" Rias shouted as Akeno and Koneko kept Asia going through her training regiment. They weren't too strict on it though, they wanted to see what would happen when Ritsuka stopped holding back.

Ritsuka shot forward at blinding speed that should not have been possible for a human. Kiba barely blocked as the wooden blade slid across the length passing by his ear. Kiba parried the blade only for Ritsuka to hop back.

In another burst of speed Ritsuka disappeared, reappearing behind Kiba and delivering two slashes against his back forcing him forward. While Kiba could tell the strikes were shallow, the speed which they were given made them sting. Before he could retaliate Ritsuka flash stepped once more in front of Kiba delivering one more slash across his unprotected torso.

Kiba was sent back from the previous hit sending him skidding across the ground. Before he could force himself to attack Ritsuka coughed up blood.

"Ritsuka!" Kiba shouted, breaking him out of his stance.

"Crap… Sorry about that." Ritsuka stopped and pulled out some tissue paper from one of his pockets wiping his mouth which made the others stare at him.

"Okay… really important second lesson. Every spirit I contracted with has strengths and weaknesses based on who they were, what they did, what afflicted them in life and the way they died." Ritsuka managed out as he uninstalled the card causing him to appear well once more.

"And the blood…" Akeno broke the explanation.

"The spirit I used was a Master swordsman… but also suffered from tuberculosis. It was forever engrained on their spirit making it remain in their legend forever." Ritsuka sighed as he finally cleaned up the blood. He had felt around his mouth with his tongue but there weren't any sores or openings anywhere in his mouth. "Basically, no matter what they will always have that affecting them."

"Why though? Why would that weakness be inherently placed upon a spirit like so?" Rias questioned clearly unhappy by that arbitrary rule.

"From my world, these would be the idea of concepts and human mentality being far more prevalent than it is here. Let's say there's a legend of a great hero. In his tale he defeated dragons creating a legend of a dragon slayer. Due to the conceptual power of human understanding and the mystery of said act that spirit can slay dragons effortlessly because that is what he is remembered for. Consequently let's say another hero was so strong that he eventually could only be killed by poison. Due to the same conceptual power he would have a much higher weakness to poisons of any type." Ritsuka explained as best he could.

He wished Lord Melloi II was here to explain. He was always better at the lecturing part. He would have remembered all the technical jargon behind it.

"You say that as if the more mysterious something is, the more powerful it becomes." Akeno posited as she seemed to be recounting his words back from memory.

"Exactly, that is what it is." Ritsuka pointed at Akeno which seemed to have the unintended result of making her smile… though Ritsuka didn't notice the pouting from the other girls who seemed annoyed that Akeno had understood him first.

"Um… will you keep using that spirit?" Kiba was unsure whether to put his sword down or not. This was a spar but it had been interrupted in the weirdest way possible.

"Yeah. I'll have to limit this down to three minutes though if you don't mind. I have the will to keep this from affecting me for long periods of time, just let my focus go this particular moment." Ritsuka waved off the concern before his eyes returned to that steel gray and he took a stance.

Kiba noted the look and while not used to it still, managed to keep his cool. This was training and he needed to be aware.

Two slashes came across his torso but he had jumped back when Ritsuka's left foot went forward. Bringing up the wooden blade as he jumped into a somersault with a downward slash, Kiba pushed back at the same time.

He couldn't get close as Ritsuka once again flash stepped. Prepared this time, Kiba rolled to the side but his blade merely stopped the strikes from hitting his back again. The constant smack of wood caused everyone to stop what they were doing.

For some reason, Kiba was reminded of his mentor but he couldn't say why.

'If this is holding back… what's letting loose?' Rias idly thought.

She could keep up with the speed, as any Devil would, but the strikes would get annoying since the flash stepping was slightly disorienting. Ritsuka seemed to be giving Kiba a pattern to follow.

Two slashes from the front seemed very artistic. Then he would quickly flash step with two slashes at the back followed by another two from the front. When at range he would bust through with a forward thrust or somersault into a downward strike.

Rias idly remembered one of her brother's Peerage. Okita Souji was their name and he was a master swordsman. The fighting style reminded her of him for some reason but she couldn't figure out why.

Kiba slowly began getting into the rhythm of the fight at least. He would parry blows and force Ritsuka back. That lasted until Ritsuka changed tactics once more alternating his speed to confuse and disorient. He would slow down for feints using the same slashes.

Kiba eventually got annoyed and used his Sacred Gear to create more blades from the ground causing Ritsuka to stop charging forward. He looked a bit confused from what Rias could tell but his lips seemed to mumble the word 'Emiya'.

Kiba charged only for his blades to be knocked aside as Ritsuka flash stepped far more often. She didn't know that Kiba kept wooden swords through his sword birth. She had thought he only kept demonic blades within it.

"Time!" Akeno called out as the two guys stopped almost immediately.

Ritsuka ran over to a bucket and a whole bunch of blood poured out. While instinct wanted her to run to his side to help she kept her ground as he waved his hand behind his back.

"I'm good!" Ritsuka shouted out before spitting up more blood. "God… is this how they are? This is so annoying…"

Ritsuka stood up, his eyes no longer had that gray tone within them anymore. He looked a bit tired but that didn't seem to bother him.

"Didn't know you could make swords… that's really neat." Ritsuka breathed in and out.

"I didn't know if it would be important or not. I usually am never pushed in sparring matches to use them." Kiba admitted. Even at the limit of their training sessions with Rias and Akeno, he had never been forced to use his gear. Though that was more because Akeno could incapacitate him with her lightning, not from unwillingness to use his gear.

"Cool. Good trump card to use only in a pinch. Ready for round two. This one is far more orthodox in their fighting style." Ritsuka mentioned as he took a different stance.

The wooden sword was at his side as if within a sheath. Kiba watched carefully noting that his gaze once again changed. His eyes changed into an amber tint but his gaze reminded him of a hawk.

Kiba gulped as he felt the same pressure once more. Ritsuka was waiting for him to make the first move. That posed a problem though. Kiba had been trained as a swordsman, and knew when there was a trap in front of him.

There were no openings, no possible ways to strike without being countered. Ritsuka's gaze even felt paralyzing but his master had told him only the greatest of swordmasters could do so with a single glance.

Kiba stepped forward keeping his blade trained on Ritsuka. His eyes didn't blink as the sword at the side was constantly tense. Iaido professionals would do so for a quickdraw… but the speed would be faster than he could manage. A single stroke would mean the difference between safety and death… if they were using real blades.

Kiba charged forward… only to step back as Ritsuka drew his sword. It nearly passed by his head swiping a few strands of hair with it. What followed was a standard samurai fighting style of thrusts, slashes, and parries. One that was much easier to follow than the previous match was.

The problem was that Ritsuka started putting more power into his swings and his gaze had hyperfocused on Kiba. The first mistake was made and Kiba lost his weapon from a lucky graze against his hands.

Ritsuka pulled back and waited for Kiba to get his blade back. When ready Ritsuka charged in this time using very precise thrusts to keep Kiba off his game. Kiba managed to see through it rolling to the side and striking Ritsuka on the side.

A small grin appeared on his face though the sudden thrust from Ritsuka's blade made him roll out of the way.

"Remember, we're sparring. One hit doesn't mean we'll stop. Keep going until Akeno calls for time." Ritsuka gently stated as he hopped back.

Kiba nodded and charged forward again. The two kept it up, racking up several hits as they did so. Most were glancing blows at best with only two devastating blows coming from lucky strikes.

Ritsuka had been slashed across the chest and Kiba received a thrusting blow from the tip of a wooden sword.

"Time!" Akeno called out as the two were breathing heavily. A few bruises were on each other and Asia immediately stepped up.

"Gimme a second, I'll get you both up in a few seconds." Asia stated as she went to work healing up their wounds. A glow of light and the bruises and aches seemed to disappear.

"Phew… one more and we can call that a small training session. Since from what I can tell about you, you have plenty of combat training under you but not enough experience to fully use it." Ritsuka pondered out loud clearly thinking about the final round.

"You're not wrong. I've dealt with training matches but I've never really met a challenge." Kiba stated as his breathing stabilized. He was still tired but so was Ritsuka. It was subtler though. Ritsuka seemed to be trained for long endeavors if the second fight was anything to go by.

"Well… let's see if I can keep this up then." Ritsuka stated. His eyes changed from the blue color to a lighter shade. With a small flash of magic a wooden blade shorter than his original wooden sword in his offhand.

Ritsuka was now wielding two blades in a wide stance as if goading Kiba to charge recklessly in. He didn't take the bait which made Ritsuka smile.

A wave of wind zoomed in as Kiba raised his blade at the last second. The twin blades crossed against one another were right in front of him, the tips dangerously close to his face. Kiba placed his leg back and pushed Ritsuka away. He flipped through the air landing back on his feet before charging once again.

Kiba wasted no time thrusting his blade forward. Parried by the smaller blade, he felt the longer blade smack against his chest. Not hard enough to make a mark, but it was enough to sting.

Ritsuka was knocked back by a shoulder barge which knocked him back a bit. A smile appeared on his face, enjoying the moment. Whichever spirit he had used enjoyed the battle immensely. Kiba could stop his own smile either as the two traded blow after blow. Some strikes broke through while others didn't.

"Time!" Akeno called out. She was slightly worried since both of the boys were bruised but content at what had occurred.

"Good spar. I know your strengths and weaknesses now." Ritsuka muttered as Asia quickly healed the two once more. "Speed is what you favor but your power is lacking. I'm certain it would be different if you used your Sacred Gear instead of being limited to a wooden sword."

"You're not wrong." Kiba answered clearly taking the summarization his abilities to heart.

"Probably best you work on your strength and endurance more than your speed if you want to balance out your specs. Alternatively, you could just focus on speed and hope you don't get hit." Ritsuka continued speaking about divulging paths like a teacher. His eyes once again returned to their natural blue color.

"Well I know what to work on then." Kiba chuckled slightly, it felt nice to have someone to spar with, be friends with.

"Okay then, Koneko give me like twenty minutes and we'll start your session." Ritsuka called out which alerted her enough to make her smash her fist against her palm.

"Yes Senpai." Koneko cheered before starting to stretch out. She had changed to a tight mesh shirt and short shorts.

Ritsuka sat down nearby and relaxed for a bit. Using three cards in a row was exhausting. He needed to figure out which ones to use for Koneko's training.

"Kiba… alright?" Koneko asked as she sat next to Kiba as he was stretching his arms out.

"Yeah… I wasn't expecting that honestly. You worried?" Kiba shot back though Koneko didn't say anything at first. She was looking at her fists clearly thinking about what could happen.

"No. Senpai will challenge me but he will take stock of who I am, what I am capable of and adjust accordingly." Koneko summarized as quickly as she could.

Ritsuka had closed his eyes. Neither could tell if it was meditation or exhaustion. His chest didn't heave like it would when someone was sleeping but he wasn't in a position that looked like meditation.

"So…?" Kiba started only to stop when he was answered.

"No, he didn't go all out. I think it tires him out if he goes all out without preparations. He kept it within sparring parameters to make it constitute training." Koneko answered as a small chime went off.

Ritsuka stood up stretching slightly. He had been thinking about which fighters to use. At the moment it was Quetzacoatl, Yan Qing, and Li Shuwen. He was slightly worried about using Yan Qing and that was more due to his ruthlessness since the phantom Doppelganger was attached to his Saint Graph.

"So Koneko… full contact or merely training in fighting styles?" Ritsuka called out catching Koneko by surprise.

"Choices?" Koneko questioned clearly confused about this. "But Kiba…?"

"Kiba has training already and I've seen him fight and fought him as well. I got a good idea about what he can do and what he needs from those moments. I've actually never seen how everyone else fights yet. I've been told but until I see all of you in action I can't really judge what needs to be done." Ritsuka calmly explained.

"Ah… full contact Senpai. I want you to treat me like a threat." Koneko answered and if he didn't know any better he thought he saw her eyes twinkle with sheer confidence.

"Okay… you know what Lucha Libre is?" Ritsuka chuckled.

"Performance wrestling?" Koneko questioned but she couldn't actually commit that idea as truth. Ritsuka's eyes changed once more. They actually looked reptilian… draconic even.

"Claro que sí… pero no es tan simple." Ritsuka stated in perfect Spanish as if it were nothing. He noticed that he was being stared at again. "Sorry, the spirit I chose was from Mexican territories."

Koneko nodded. She didn't really mind the different language even if she didn't understand it. What made her worry was the sheer power radiating from Ritsuka. While everyone seemed aware that spirit magic was at work, she was shocked that he didn't mention to have divine spirits as well. Her senjutsu wanted to explode out of her body just to make certain she would survive but she couldn't chance that. She didn't want to be the weak link in the Peerage.

As she was, Koneko was only good as a blunt object. It was something she was aware of. She didn't mind since it kept her slightly content with her life. But, Senpai was different. He strove towards different goals and she wasn't going to be the one to drag him down.

"I'm ready." Koneko put up her dukes keeping her arms in a slight boxer stance. Her arms were slightly lower though making Ritsuka think it was more so Muay Thai instead of boxing.

Ritsuka smiled and waited with his arms at his side. Thanks to Quetzacoatl's card he knew to make this more of a spectacle since he had an audience. He didn't dislike the fervor of her feelings within the card… but he was worried about having to go all out to satisfy the feelings that came from the card.

Koneko dashed in faster than Kiba with several lashed out kicks. Ritsuka kept up his guard knocking each kick from hitting him. Forcing himself forward, Ritsuka adjusted an arm bar trying to knock Koneko in the head. Her arms came up at the last second launching her all the way to the far wall.

Koneko skidded to a stop before she could slam into the wall. Jumping to the side, she dodged a flying leg kick and charged forward with her own spin kick knocking Ritsuka back. His body twisted in the air before landing back on his feet.

Koneko got into the swing of the fight as the two would constantly knock each other around. She was sore after every hit though. The divine nature that radiated off of Ritsuka managed to add enough power that even though she was a Rook, her defenses were still faltering.

Ritsuka looked highly bruised. His clothes were ragged and scuffed. Even then, his smile wouldn't stop. If Koneko didn't know any better, it looked like he was enjoying the constant fight.

Ritsuka flew into a forward bicycle kick managing to land back on his feet. Koneko had her guard up as she was sent flying up slightly.

"Time!" Akeno called out. Both Ritsuka and Koneko were ready to strike each other once more stopping mere inches from punching each other.

"Senpai… fought before…" Koneko breathed out. She was actually tired since he had gone much farther combat wise for her.

"I… only know Bajiquan… I never… learned other styles… well." Ritsuka answered in kind. He was far more tired than his fight with Kiba and his eyes returned to normal. "Everything hurts…"

The two sat next to each other against one of the walls leaning against each other. Both were sweating profusely but no blood had been drawn.

"Having spirits… helps a lot… doesn't it?" Koneko whispered as she glanced over to Ritsuka.

"If I didn't… I wouldn't have survived here… at all." Ritsuka answered quietly. The solemn stare on his face made Koneko worried. She couldn't tell why. "Twenty minutes… is that fine?"

"Rest?" Koneko pointed out.

"Yes. Very much, yes." Ritsuka answered as he took another deep breath.

"I'll get you back up!" Asia let out as her Twilight Healing got a good workout.

Twenty minutes passed as Kiba got the two water bottles. It helped though neither drank much. Just enough to keep themselves hydrated since the second match was coming up.

"Rias… Akeno… Asia… I'll handle your training tomorrow… if that's okay." Ritsuka called out to the three who had decided to push off training to watch the sparring going on between the other three.

"I'm a little worried about what you have in store for us." Rias chuckled though her worry was still palpable enough.

"You're all magic users more so than Koneko or Kiba. I have some ways to make sure your training is tailored to you." Ritsuka assured her as best he could. Ritsuka was still looking tired though. "I don't know how much so I've been thinking about what you need."

"You seem to think a lot." Rias noted taking stock of Ritsuka's eyes. While he remained stoic most of the time, his eyes revealed how he actually felt at any given moment.

"It's kept me alive… not always in safety but alive." Ritsuka chuckled. His eyes were staring straight ahead though. They seemed locked on a goal farther away than even she could fathom.

"Same here?" Rias mentioned as he stood up ready to spar against Koneko once more.

"Yeah… some things never change… and I don't know if I can ever let it return to normal." Ritsuka let out a breath he was holding as his eyes changed once more. They were now a yellow shade… and seemed far more ruthless.

"Warning before we continue… the next one taught me to be ruthless. Far harsher than the others…" Ritsuka called out to Koneko who had taken her stance once more.

"Bad?" Koneko questioned as Ritsuka took up a far different stance. Both arms were raised palms open facing forward. His right leg shifted weight onto the pad of his foot.

"Slightly… the match goes for three minutes. I don't want this to get out of hand." Ritsuka winced slightly.

Koneko charged in fist first only to be knocked aside by a flurry of punches. Rolling out of the way as he stomped his foot down, Koneko went on the defensive. Neither side took it easy on each other letting themselves get hit as they traded blows.

The impacts made each spectator wince because neither side expected such fury behind each blow. As they continued their battle Akeno got antsy and immediately stepped forward.

"Time!" Akeno called out. She wasn't in time though as both sides cross countered each other. Their bodies fell to the ground panting heavily. Ritsuka was bleeding slightly from his lip and there were bruises on Koneko's cheeks.

"Oh no!" Asia was nearly in tears with how brutal that battle had been.

"I won… that… Senpai…" Koneko called out even though the pain made her wince nearly every word.

"Yeah…" Ritsuka called back licking his lips to stop the blood from leaking too far. "You… drew… first… blood…"

Asia healed the two quickly letting them take deep breaths. Koneko showed no qualms about resting near Ritsuka. In fact, she started cuddling into him… which the other ladies noticed… and puffed their cheeks up in jealousy.

"Half an hour this time… I'm tired…" Ritsuka mumbled as he drank some more water nearly draining the entire bottle.

A half hour passed as the two stretched out for the final bout for the day. The elation Koneko felt was a bit disconcerting… since she had never shown herself to be such a blood knight.

"I'm really tired… three minutes, okay?" Ritsuka chimed in, rubbing his eyes with his fingers and letting out a yawn.

"Yes Senpai." Koneko answered. She was swaying slightly but as soon as the challenge was set perked up slightly.

Ritsuka's eyes took on a red amber tint to him. A large overcoat materialized on his shoulders as well. When everyone noticed, he really could pass for a yakuza member. He stretched his wrists slightly rubbing them in each hand one after another.

"Ready…?" Ritsuka stated, his tone sharp and eager. It also sounded much older than he was.

"Yes." Koneko answered.

Ritsuka stepped forward not even taking a stance which immediately made Koneko backpedal. His confident stride only made her worry what fighting style he was employing now.

She was a kitten facing a tiger now. The irony wasn't lost on her, nor was the metaphor lacking in this situation. She couldn't just charge ahead recklessly. She could tell the moment Ritsuka placed his hands behind his back.

"What's he doing?" Asia whispered to Akeno who was too busy watching the fight to help her with her endurance training. Though at this point the spectacle was far too amazing to look away from.

"Hunting." Akeno answered. It was the only way to describe his eyes at the moment. Whichever spirit Ritsuka had called was a fighter, an old fighter who had reached a peak that mortals called divine in martial arts.

"Noticed, huh?" Ritsuka chuckled slightly.

Koneko immediately blocked a high speed forward punch sliding back. Not taking the chance she ducked low dodging another high speed swing. She countered with her own punches only managing to catch his arm.

As soon as that flurry of punches ended both sides backed up. Ritsuka returned his hands behind his back once more. Koneko had to shake her arms. The speed that each impact was thrown at had caused a slight pain to build up.

She had noticed the moment that Ritsuka had attacked. He was utilizing chi to increase his strikes not unlike what senjutsu would do for her own strikes.

He took a step forward again.

Koneko immediately tensed up and backed away again. The pressure of this particular spirit residing within Ritsuka was a master practitioner.

"This is Bajiquan?" Koneko called out wanting a little leeway before he struck.

"Yeah. He taught me higher levels but even at my best I would only last thirty seconds against him." Ritsuka paused which Koneko immediately capitalized upon.

A quick leap forward ready to strike with her foot… only to be caught and slammed onto the ground. She rolled to the side as Ritsuka took up an actual fighting stance.

"I think I get what I should work on with you later." Ritsuka stated finally looking a bit more eager for the fight.

"Yes Senpai?" Koneko let her curiosity get the best of her.

"Technique and tactics. That would benefit you most of all." Ritsuka mumbled under his breath… something only Koneko could hear.

Koneko nodded in understanding. The two were about to charge forward when Akeno stepped forward.

"Time!" Akeno called out.

Ritsuka relaxed his guard once more and slumped down against the wall. Exhaustion heavy upon him and Koneko stumbled wearily next to him. They ended up sitting against the wall falling asleep. Asia did her best to heal them once more from the minute damage they both took.

Rias sighed out finally letting that anxiety she had held on while Ritsuka and her Peerage battled it out in an intense sparring match. She was especially glad that Asia had joined her as well. Her healing was far and above the best addition to their group.

As she took a vested look at her mage and nekoshou too exhausted to even rest in the living room, she started wondering. The Evil Pieces created by Ajuka were capable of turning anyone into a devil. The problem was that if a person was too strong for the devil in question, the piece would fail.

Ritsuka would have been a Knight, something that would have benefited his already noticeable strength when not using his magic to enhance himself. She started to think that if she had tried a piece on him it wouldn't have taken hold. Though the only reason her thoughts had turned in this direction were because of the spectacle of a match he showed them all.

It was more remarkable because as far as she knew it, he had only told the four of them why he was so strong. At first, she hadn't understood what he meant the first time he talked about his magic. She thought it was only good for summoning familiars. Now..., well now she saw the truth.

For the rest of the day they assisted with Asia's conditioning. With her advent into devil status still new, she was still capable of doing an impressive amount of push ups and sit ups. Well, they would be impressive if done by a human but as they were now it was merely a drop in the bucket for a devil.

When the sun set both Koneko and Ritsuka rejoined the land of the waking once more.

'Crap… I fell asleep…' Ritsuka's blurry eyes scanned around the dojo. Everyone was making sure that Asia was getting attention in any area she may have needed. Kiba was sitting in a chair drinking water and seemingly meditating. It was hard to tell because his position was lounging on said chair.

Ritsuka peered down to his shoulder, noticing the small girl clinging to him still sleeping her time away. She looked content… even though they had been beating the crap out of each other. It was a bit weird… but he knew Scathach was almost the same. Warrior women who enjoyed a good fight before curling up with their opponent. Or maybe that was just his experience.

Chaldean life was really, really weird. Ritsuka mentally shook his head in exasperation. This was normal enough.

With a quick word everyone turned in early. After their classes tomorrow, he would see what he could do for all the magic users of the group. Without a word, he picked Koneko up cradling her in his arms.

Taking her to her room he placed her in her bed and walked back to his room.

"Senpai~" Koneko silently giggled under her breath after the door closed.

Classes went fast. Ritsuka hadn't been paying much attention to the going ons of the school. Issei had gotten into an argument with Aika but that went nowhere. Asia at the very least excelled at making friends. Most of the girls of the school fell for her friendly innocence but he was now wary of Aika. She had made it very clear that she was a corrupting influence.

"Asia…" Ritsuka called out as the two walked for the ORC building.

"Yes Ritsuka-sama?" Asia answered with complete innocence that made Ritsuka stop and wonder where his life had gone wrong and why girls immediately thought of him as their master. Then he mentally berated himself because he was a master for many, many girls already.

"You know you don't have to use that honorific for me. As far as I'm concerned we are equals in any regard. Though that's not really my concern." Ritsuka forced a smile but it was at least out of good natured concern.

"No. As far as this is you are very much worth that title. You saved me after all." Asia blushed, coyly letting her hands hide behind her back. "As my hero it should be obvious."

"Did Aika tell you to be bolder…?" Ritsuka sighed. His cheeks were slightly flushed with how… honest she had been about her feelings.

"Huh? Well, yes. Isn't that how I'm supposed to be?" Asia stopped looking slightly confused.

"It's not bad. Just… take what she says with a grain of salt." Ritsuka muttered slightly exasperated.

"I should take some salt with whatever she says?" Asia questioned. Ritsuka stared at her.

"You were very sheltered, weren't you?" Ritsuka glanced at the young lady who merely nodded in agreement. "I'll be teaching you about euphemisms later. Your adorableness is just too much at this point."

Ritsuka gave Asia a tight hug giving her headpats after entering the ORC building and before they entered the main room. Asia returned the hug while turning a bright red.

"Awawawawa…" Asia mumbled under her breath as the two entered the room.

"Ready for this time then?" Rias called out as everyone stepped into a large magic glyph. "I got authorization to use a field for our magic training."

"Great. I'm looking forward to seeing what you girls can do." Ritsuka mentioned as he stepped next to Kiba and Koneko.

In a flash of light they all disappeared.

They reappeared in a large field in the middle of an artificial forest. The only reason that Ritsuka could tell it was artificial was because a few of the trees looked plastic. The group spread out looking a bit nostalgic… except for Asia who marveled at the wondrous sight before her.

"Welcome to one of the fields for the Ratings Game. This is the smallest field possible and a free one that would let us train quickly." Rias announced waving her arm around to show off the place.

Ritsuka looked around before installing Caster Cu's card. With a few steps forward he placed his hand on the real trees hidden by the plastic. The tree seemed to morph as several logs seemed to magically split off from it. The trees looked unharmed as well. Switching to Medea's card he telekinetically lifted several of the log slicing them in half and placing them in the ground standing straight up.

"Where did the staff come from?" Koneko pointed out breaking Ritsuka out of his single minded trance.

"Huh? Oh sorry. I was getting targets ready for Akeno and Rias to use to show me what they're capable of. The Staff? Each spirit has weapons that coincide with them. I can use them so long as that spirit is connected." Ritsuka quickly explained. His eyes had shifted from a red tint to a purple tint.

"How much mana did you use?" Rias muttered but Ritsuka still could hear what she asked.

"Tiny bit. It's all about mana control and manipulation and doing more for less. Conservation of mana is key for most Magus in making certain they walk out of incidents without harm." Ritsuka recited as if from memory. He seemed to be channeling everything he had learned into this moment.

"Is this from experience?" Akeno whispered beneath her hand only to be heard again.

"Pretty much. From fighting dragons and wyverns across the plains of France, fighting emperors in Rome, cruising around Okeanos, solving murders in the misty fog ridden London, fighting warriors amongst the American plains, assaulting pyramids and the very gates of Camelot, and fighting beasts in the plains of Mesopotamia I made sure to learn all about using magic efficiently." Ritsuka explained without any aplomb, leaving those facts as a matter of fact.

There was a stunned silence as everyone took in what he had said. The instance that fighting dragons was the lowest on the list made everyone kind of wonder what the hell Ritsuka had been through.

"It's funny since that was only the first year and a half. I didn't even mention the weird shit… but let's leave that for later. Who wants to go first?" Ritsuka chuckled as he placed wards on three of the logs.

"I'll go." Akeno announced… if only to stop her curiosity of what Ritsuka had gone through in his own adventures.

"Wonderful. I placed wards on these three logs. Using your magic, I want you to break the wards." Ritsuka announced.

Akeno smirked as she looked at her new targets. It seemed it would be such an easy test which slightly disappointed her slightly. She didn't think she was being underestimated… but it was hard not to feel that way.

With a quick flick of her wrist she summoned up several shards of ice which fired out of her palm. The flickering of the wards placed on the logs held strong letting the magic fizzle out against them. Akeno kept her cool but internally she reeled back from how strong the wards turned out to be. With a few small words she changed to fire magic setting the logs ablaze. The wards on one flickered some more before finally shattering from stress.

Even so the log within was barely singed. Turning her gaze to Ritsuka she noticed that he was watching her intently… examining how much magic she had used. He waved his hand on another target and she got the message.

'Show me all you can do. Is that what he wants?' Akeno thoughtfully surmised from his gestures. Of course, her mind might have gone in a very different direction but she got the intent fine enough.

She wasn't going to use his power if she could help it. So channeling her demonic energy a storm cloud appeared above the target he pointed at. Several bolts of lightning flashed down but only three bolts were needed to break the ward. The other bolts that came down incinerated the log to ashes.

Lightning had always been her affinity. She knew she could use more powerful lightning… but that side could remain buried for all she cared. Ritsuka stared as her for a bit. She was showing her sadistic side again… which he didn't blush away from. He was smiling at her.

'So… what am I supposed to teach her?' Ritsuka kept her carefully crafted smile up. He didn't actually think Akeno needed any lessons. Her control was excellent. Her power output could be adjusted. She had variety as well. Elemental magic was the bread and butter of most magi from his world… at least he had been told it was one of the more versatile since it was so well researched throughout the ages.

"Good work. Let's see what Rias can do now." Ritsuka waved Akeno over who giddily skipped to his side… confusing him immensely.

He stared at her a bit longer but instead of turning away like most devils did when he stared them down, she just blushed even more. It wasn't even that he was trying to stare her down… she was just being far more obvious with her thirst.

"Right." Ritsuka turned away first straining to keep his smile. With a flick of his wrist the ashes were blown away and a new log was put in place. A few more mumbled words and several new wards were in place. "Go ahead."

Rias stepped into place. She really needed to have a talk with Akeno about keeping her enthusiasm from spilling out. Kiba and Koneko were busy having Asia run around the perimeter of the arena with them so it wasn't too much of a problem that she saw how Akeno acted.

It was no secret to any of them what Akeno was planning to have Ritsuka do. The only reason it wasn't a problem was because she controlled herself to only when it was the Peerage or her alone with him.

Maybe, she was a little jealous of how open Akeno could be about her affection. Maybe, she also wanted Ritsuka to do what he did to her for her. Maybe, she wanted the same as Akeno or more.

With a flip of her wrist Rias fired out a sphere of destruction. The ward lasted twenty seconds before she evaporated the log in its entirety. The sphere held as much power as she could muster in a few seconds. It left her a bit surprised that the ward lasted as long as it did.

She gave a self satisfied smirk as she turned to Ritsuka who was appraising her intently. His gaze was far too intense but she wouldn't be outdone. She weathered his stare just like Akeno did.

'Okay… tons of power. Not a lot of thought was put into it though. I wonder if she could shape her ability into other things. Maybe even give it commands. So Rias needs technique and Akeno needs… something.' Ritsuka mulled over his options since he wasn't really sure if he could teach them anything new.

"Good. Try one more time. This time I'll be putting wards up as you go so just overpower me." Ritsuka called out as he lifted the staff he had summoned.

Rias nodded and looked at the newest target for her. It seemed to have stronger wards placed on it. Rias put more power into her next attack letting loose another sphere of destruction.

The ward struggled against her output but Ritsuka would raise his staff placing another ward every time it faltered. Even then it was difficult to match her pace. Ritsuka was forced to place a ward every fifteen seconds just to keep the log from being wiped off the face of the arena.

It took nearly three minutes for Rias to break the ward as she forced herself to use multiple smaller spheres striking at the same time. It was too much for the wards to handle. The log evaporated like the last.

Rias puffed slightly from overexertion. A few drops of sweat ran down her cheek which she wiped. Ritsuka didn't seem winded at all though.

"Good work. Okay I think I got an idea." Ritsuka waved his staff again and another log split giving the three seats to sit on. "Let's discuss some things."

The two sat down… a bit hesitant though because Ritsuka was appraising them both intensely. He was stuck in a thinking pose as the two shuffled a bit in their seat.

"Okay, first thing is that both of you are very powerful. I would lose outright if I didn't have a spirit actively inhabiting me." Ritsuka praised the two. Each puffed their chest in pride… which also made them bounce for some reason. 'Right… ignore that…'

"But…?" Rias was the one to note the inevitable downside.

"Rias is a powerhouse but technique is very predictable. In my professional opinion, you favor power to wipe out things before they become a problem. It's very high power but I was still able to keep your magic at bay for three minutes. It wasn't until you adapted to a spread out pattern that I wasn't able to keep up." Ritsuka explained. Rias nodded and sadly sighed.

She had been slacking a bit on training her power. To her defense, she wanted a normal school life at least for a bit without the power struggles of devil society weighing down on her mind.

"I can help you adapt your power and maybe even get it to a point where you can shape it to fit your mood, probably. I've known a few mages who did weird things with elemental magic." Ritsuka chuckled remembering how Sitonai sometimes did that with her ice magic. It was outside of battles but she could still manipulate it into different mobile shapes. "We could also limit it to affect certain objects since Ratings Games are meant to be non lethal most of the time if that is what I'm understanding from everything I've been told."

"Yes. Since all devils have special safety spells placed on them to keep from being killed outright through their evil pieces." Rias answered though looked away from Ritsuka. She was still scared that he was putting himself at risk for death.

"Good. Now for Akeno… I don't see any problem power wise or adaptation wise. For you, it's more situational awareness and keeping your sadism in check. I don't mind it at all but I'm weird like that." Ritsuka mentioned which softened the criticism Akeno heard as she gave off a soft smile that her sadistic tendencies weren't going to be a deal breaker.

"I'm glad." Akeno muttered as she felt her heart lift up a bit.

"For your training I'm guessing the best idea would be to play a game of hide and tag." Ritsuka announced which made the two confused.

"A game?" Both spoke at the same time.

"Yeah. I do have ways to hide my presence. I'll be tossing something at you and you'll have to react to it. I need to get that ready though so I need to pick the right things to do so. It should be a bit more fun since this isn't a sparring match." Ritsuka gave off a little smirk winking at Akeno. It might have been too much though as Akeno blushed up a storm letting her legs fumble around. "Alternatively, I could just have you fight things so that you can get used to the idea. I know for a fact, both of you are stronger than you appear."

"I would like the game… I'm sure you can make it… interesting." Akeno emphasized the last word in the most seductive tone she could muster. Ritsuka merely chuckled at that.

"Sure. Rias, for you it would be me having you shape magic and seeing where we go from there. I have some ideas on how to go about it or we could just use combat training to allow yourself to use your imagination and figure it out on your own." Ritsuka explained professionally to Rias who appreciated the choice.

"I'll have you help me shape magic for now. Maybe combat later." Rias gave off a small smile which Ritsuka nodded to.

"Okay. I'm gonna check on the others. Maybe I can get Kiba to help me find something for the game." Ritsuka mumbled as he… floated away. Rias and Akeno stared… flabbergasted that they hadn't noticed that the entire time.

"Hey! Kiba!" Ritsuka called out getting his attention after they finished their fourth lap around the arena. Asia looked exhausted but happy enough to be getting a break.

"Yes Ritsuka-kun? What do you need?" Kiba answered wiping his face with a small towel. Koneko watched on, curious. Asia was far too tired to even understand that Ritsuka was around.

"I need something for training Akeno. Any ideas what I could use to throw at her?" Ritsuka asked.

"Senpai should just get water balloons. Akeno would agree immediately." Koneko snarked slightly.

"Would be the safest idea. I was gonna say suction cup darts but knowing you, you might throw too hard, Ritsuka-kun." Kiba pointed out. Koneko thought about how her comment was taken seriously and immediately sighed.

"I don't think I could throw that hard. I do have to throw hard enough to train her though. Do we have any balloons?" Ritsuka wondered aloud as Kiba seemed to ponder things.

"I think we have some back at home. I'll go get them ready since I feel we've got Asia conditioned for now at the very least. Do you think so Koneko?" Kiba looked to his training partner.

"For now yes. We will do more when you get back to let Asia regain her stamina." Koneko announced as Asia shakily nodded clearly exhausted but determined.

"Okay. I'll go start Rias training until then. Thank you very much. As many as you can bring. Also towels probably. I think that we'll need them." Ritsuka mentioned before floating off. All three devils looked at Ritsuka with a blank stare.

"I didn't see anything. That didn't happen and I'm going to get things ready." Kiba blankly stated heading off for the teleportation sigil to head back to the mansion.

"Senpai can float…" Koneko muttered as she helped Asia back on her feet. Asia was still trying to catch her breath and mumbled incoherently.

Rias and Akeno were a bit torn. They had been blindsided by watching Ritsuka float around without the use of wings. They were going to discuss their plans for what happens after the battle with Riser. That didn't happen.

"So he can float… now that I know he's using spirits to do so I don't really know what the limit is for being surprised now." Rias idly stated as Akeno nodded.

"Probably yesterday is the best we'll see. He used six didn't he?" Akeno pointed out which got them looking at each other.

"Six is his limit or is it the time he uses them for?" Rias asked back theorizing further on the limits or lack thereof.

Ritsuka returned to the two chatting amicably about something. He was thinking about how to go about this since he hadn't used Sitonai's card extensively. As he touched down he uninstalled Medea's card and installed Sitonai's.

"Ready?" Ritsuka asked. His eyes were a startling shade of arctic blue and seemed to glow with power. "I figure this will benefit you both if I teach you this."

"Yes!" Both answered standing up at attention.

"Okay, follow my lead then." Ritsuka, using Sitonai's magecraft, formed a sphere of ice in his hand. "Channel the element or magic that you feel most comfortable about. Most of the foundation of magecraft I've learned is based on the knowledge of knowing how it is done and infusing mana into it to get it done. So believe that this sphere is spinning slowly. See how the shape changes as you do so."

Rias and Akeno were a bit confused since it wasn't exactly how they were taught to use their own abilities. The fact that the term he used for his magic was magecraft instead sent up some red flags. Still, they did as Ritsuka asked.

Each made a sphere of their respective magic, Destruction and Lightning. Rias' pulsed in the palm of her hand, letting her know that it was secure. Akeno's let off tiny sparks as she forced it to coalesce into a sphere shape. With some effort they made the spheres spin as he asked.

"Now I see a diamond… perfectly drawn. Four lines at each point consistently the lines are the same shape and size. It's spin is almost inconsequential but you see it as its shape takes form." Ritsuka droned on clearly allowing their imagination to take pace.

It was subtle but Rias has willed the sphere to slowly take shape. The diamond was still rounded but as she concentrated on the lines which made its sides the shape started taking form. Akeno had an easier time shaping the magic but elemental magic was the easiest to manipulate.

"Good. Now as you hear my tone think up the shape you see most. Don't force it. Just imagine the shape and believe that it is in your hand. The contours and edges that make it what it is. You can see the shape take form." Ritsuka praised as he made the ice take the shape of an arrow.

Rias let her imagination take hold as the diamond slowly started to curve. Akeno did the same. The top split apart slightly curving as it did and the angles at top reflected that. Eventually the magic they projected took the form of a heart. Ritsuka said nothing about it though. He didn't need to since it was pretty obvious what that meant.

"Go ahead and let it dissipate. I think that's good for now." Ritsuka mentioned letting both girls relax as the magic faded. They seemed a bit tired now.

"That was hard…" Rias muttered as she shook her hand. "Hand went numb for a bit."

"Strain on your magic?" Ritsuka questioned.

"No, no, nothing like that. Just holding it up for that long was tiring." Rias giggled as she shook her hand.

"Ah. Okay, glad it's not bad. Akeno?" Ritsuka looked to his other student.

"Easy enough. I was surprised how easy this could be." Akeno waved off the concern. She was eager to do her training.

"It's easy so long as you get the concept. Magecraft is weird that way. It needs a foundation and time to make it grow into something powerful. Though even then I'm just reciting what I've been told and using a spirit to make it happen. Like I said I'm barely qualified as a mage. Though that's probably for the best." Ritsuka sighed as his eyes changed from the icy blue to his regular shade once more.

"You seem more than qualified as a Magus though." Rias pointed out though Ritsuka merely shook his head.

"I know things. It doesn't mean I can do them without using the one form of magic I know. It doesn't really matter though. I'll do what I can with what I have." Ritsuka waved off praise though he could tell that neither liked that.

"You should take more pride in your accomplishments Ritsuka-kun. It's not good to be too humble." Akeno voiced giving him a sharp glance that didn't want any excuses.

"Yeah… I've been told. I'll work on it Akeno." Ritsuka rubbed the back of his head. Mash had made it clear not to fall into that cyclical trap. It was one of those vicious things that was easy to lose himself to.

"Ritsuka! I brought them!" Kiba called out as he flew in a large bucket filled with water balloons. At first glance there looked to be ninety or so hidden within.

"Is this what we're doing? A water balloon fight?" Akeno stared dubious at the container. This felt more like a fun time rather than actual training compared to what Kiba and Koneko went through.

"Sort of. This is to train your situational awareness. I'll be throwing these at you. You dodge them. Rules are as follows. If you fly remain at the top of the trees level. No magical barriers or attacks to stop them. If you find the real me before I throw all ninety or so then you win." Ritsuka quickly explained.

"What do you mean by the real you?" Akeno questioned as she felt his magic switch once more. His eyes were a shockingly deep shade of gray.

With a small tilt of his head over ninety eight bodies appeared behind him surprising the entirety of the Gremory Peerage. With careful movements every water balloon was taken out of the container and with a quick jump every single body disappeared. They all had a strange skull mask on top of their head with differing facial structures but they all resembled a shadowed Ritsuka.

The last one was a child version of Ritsuka who pulled a small pad of paper out of their magical storage and sat down on the log.

"So… dodge at least thirty strikes or catch me. That's your training Akeno." Ritsuka chuckled as he took one of the balloons and like the others disappeared into the shadows of the trees out of sight once more.

"Uh…" It was the resounding tone coming from every single devil around. The child Ritsuka had gotten up and drew a circle around Akeno and one next to the log he sat on. He sat down and waited, watching Akeno.

"Why did you draw the circle?" Kiba managed to ask the small Ritsuka who looked nervously around.

"Safe spot…" Child Ritsuka mumbled as he hid behind the small pad. He pointed at the other circle "Tell me you have been hit."

"Ara… so cute." Akeno stared at the child who just blushed and hid his face. Even Rias wasn't immune to the sight.

"A-akeno… you should start… Step out of the circle and the game will start." Child Ritsuka managed to find his voice. "Ninety nine remain."

Rias couldn't control herself anymore as she picked up child Ritsuka placing him on her lap and cuddling him against her. He made no attempt to escape but he was left blushing intensely.

Akeno kept her frown from showing but she was completely jealous. When else was she going to get the chance to cuddle a tiny Ritsuka and spoil them. With a sigh, she let her wings out and flapped off into the forest. As if on the moment she left the circle three water balloons were tossed as her. She curved her body slightly but one balloon still managed to splash against her.

A knife immediately stabbed into the circle that was next to Rias and child Ritsuka. He made a mark on his pad as two of the shadowed Ritsuka's reappeared next to them before dissolving into shadows in front of them.

"Two dodged… still more to go." child Ritsuka muttered. His tone was quiet and distant compared to how Ritsuka actually was.

"This seems extreme for training." Kiba commented on the child Ritsuka's attention. Four more knives were in the circle and Akeno was no longer visible.

"That is on purpose. Training means nothing if you don't push your limits. Big me has done this training already. His record is dodging forty balloons. When he… we started… we could only dodge ten. Those were by dumb luck though. Tripped at the right moment." child Ritsuka mentioned seemingly confused on pronouns as if his identity wasn't fully realized. Ten more knives hit the circle and six shadows appeared and dissolved in front of him. He made more marks on his pad.

"You do a lot of things don't you… is this normal?" Rias questioned as he tried to look up at her. Her breasts were in the way though.

"Yes. This spirit in us weaponized their schizophrenic mind and we are borrowing their power. Each personality has its own body… but to keep it from overwhelming me… us… we have mitigated it to merely the split bodies and not the mental problems." Child Ritsuka mentioned and their voice started to buzz as if multiple people were speaking at once.

Kiba looked worried about that admission. Ritsuka ushered him closer and to kneel. He reluctantly did so getting headpats. Nonplussed, Kiba merely stared at the child who smiled back.

"You worry too much. I… we… have learned all one hundred names. We have spent time getting to know each one because that is who I am." Child Ritsuka chuckled.

Thirty more knives entered the circle and ten more shadows came and dissolved in front of them. It was a surreal sight for all involved. Ritsuka marked them as well.

"She is good. Eighteen have been avoided. I expected no less." Child Ritsuka smiled though it was subdued and their tone still seemed to buzz with multiple voices.

Both kept quiet as more knives appeared in the circle. Six more shadows appeared and dissolved. This trend continued for a couple more minutes as five more shadows appeared. Child Ritsuka looked over the circle counting out the knives. There were sixty-nine daggers stabbed into the circle. The real body of Ritsuka reappeared stabbing a knife into the circle.

Akeno came walking out of the forest completely drenched. Her white uniform clung tightly to her skin. She seemed a little put off that she got hit so many times and held her head down. Child Ritsuka stood up from Rias lap and walked over. Akeno noticed him but she didn't seem to want to look him in the eye. A water balloon flew past her sight and completely missed her.

She looked up at the child Ritsuka who had thrown the balloon. Surprise flashed across her face as the child looked pleased.

"Seems you dodged thirty of us. Do you think we took it easy on you?" Child Ritsuka questioned as the actual Ritsuka stood behind him.

"I… I don't know…" Akeno admitted.

"We did this not to hold a winner. This was to make sure you would always be aware. We can tell. You are very strong but there are moments where your enthusiasm takes control. We… I do not mind those moments but like the others I want you to be as strong as possible no matter where this path takes us all. You are my friends… and we shall make sure you are ready for all." Child Ritsuka spoke, his voice still buzzed as if there were multiple people talking but it was gentle.

"So… what would you like for winning?" Ritsuka asked. The child looked up waiting for her response.

With a quiet smile she picked up the child Ritsuka and had him sit on her lap just like Rias. She wasn't going to waste this chance.

When training was done for the day everyone returned home. Ritsuka uninstalled the card and child Ritsuka disappeared into the shadows with a nice wave. Koneko and Asia were oblivious to what had happened but were still glad to see that Akeno and Rias had finished the first moment of their training.

"Asia, tomorrow we'll be working on you personally. I've been thinking about what you would need." Ritsuka called out.

"Yes! I will make sure to pay attention!" Asia announced standing up at attention.

The night continued without much problem and dinner was made by Koneko and Ritsuka. Sleep came for all without much problem… well except for two.

Akeno snuck into Ritsuka's room without too much trouble. Everyone was far too tired to actually do anything. Ritsuka was actually lying on his bed staring at the ceiling.

"Still bummed out by how things went?" Ritsuka asked though he didn't turn to look at her. Akeno said nothing. She instead stepped over and curled up next to him without a word.

"A little. I should be better. I didn't like winning through pity." Akeno admitted as she clenched her fingers around the fabric of his light mesh shirt.

"I wasn't pitying you." Ritsuka stated in that same strong tone he used whenever he needed to talk to Kiyohime. "I can assure you I'm not lying. I've been… conditioned not to."

"Conditioned?" Akeno questioned noticing their eyes were now meeting.

"One of the people I met were lied to and left to a horrible fate. I've promised I wouldn't lie no matter what." Ritsuka admitted. "I'll game the system when someone shows they don't care about me in any capacity but for those that do, I'll be as honest as I possibly can be,"

"Really…? Why?"Akeno couldn't stop her frown. "I'm kind of a horrible woman. I can be so dependent when I find a reliable man. I know I said those things that night but… you will leave someday."

"Yeah… that's why I want you to be strong. I will tell you something I don't like admitting. I will never have a normal life. Ever. For everything I've been through I can't ever have that life of going to school and just enjoying those simple things." Ritsuka pulled Akeno in closer who responded by holding on to him.

"Never?" Akeno muttered.

"Yes." Ritsuka sighed. "So for me… I'll keep you and whoever else as happy as I possibly can. Since it's not quantity… but the quality of time that matters in everything."

"I'm glad." Akeno smiled as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Also I have to say I enjoyed every single angle of you in a wet shirt." Ritsuka chuckled which Akeno blushed at stopping her tears. He didn't want her to cry since it went against his being.

"Whenever you want Ritsuka." Akeno smiled as she rested her head against his shoulder seemingly content at that admission and the two slept comfortably for the night.

Ritsuka woke up to an empty bed. Though when he looked in a mirror after his morning shower, there was a hickey on his neck. Ritsuka brought out some of the make up he used in Shinjuku and used it to cover up the spot. Switching to Medea's card he used some of her magecraft to hide it better.

Classes went the same as normal. Issei made a fool of himself, Asia let her adorableness get her more friends and he watched the lessons go by. They were a bit boring now since he had already learned a lot of what they were teaching. He wasn't a natural genius but he generally knew what he was doing.

Aika has clung to Asia most of the morning… which also meant she was close to Ritsuka as well. It was an uncomfortable experience for him.

It felt like she had the same proclivities as Medb but without the rampant bitch status that came with that attitude. Her eyes constantly lingered on him and he noticed the very subtle ways she would pretend to fellate something. He was glad he was so used to that sort of teasing from Medb beforehand. Her Saber version was much more willing to go farther even though he wasn't a full warrior.

When the day finally ended he relaxed.

"Aika-san sure is energetic, isn't she Ritsuka-sama?" Asia started making him pause his thoughts once more. He really needed to get used to that… but he probably never would.

"She's far more forward than Akeno… that's for sure." Ritsuka harshly breathed out trying to put it in the best way possible.

"You… you mean…!" Asia was shocked, realizing what he meant.

"She's a pervert but with standards. Look, is she a good friend to you?" Ritsuka questioned as he looked down to the former nun.

"Yes. She's almost like my best friend now… but that doesn't mean that Koneko isn't my best friend. I just mean that in school Aika is and in the club Koneko is." Asia stumbled over her words clearly not used to having so many friends.

"I understand. Don't panic. Look… just be careful of all her advice. I'm certain a bit of it will be… perverted. Okay, most of it will be perverted." Ritsuka admitted at the end rubbing his face with his hand.

"Oh…" Asia answered.

'I better not tell him she told me all about where babies come from. Hopefully Akeno-senpai won't beat me to it.' Asia quietly thought as she hid her reaction through blushing. While she was naive most of the time, Aika told her that she needed to be crafty when it came to claiming a position in Ritsuka-sama's heart.

Ritsuka didn't know why but a shiver went down his spine. Shaking his head slightly to break the tension, the two entered the abandoned building for the ORC and the group teleported back to the field for more training.

Akeno took Kiba and Koneko away for flight training and dodging obstacles. Speed seemed to be their goal for the day. Rias and Asia remained next to Ritsuka who seemed to be gazing at Asia. Rias sat down on one of the logs that Ritsuka had cut apart the previous day and waited to see what would happen next.

"So… do you actually want to fight?" Ritsuka threw out the million dollar question to Asia.

"Huh? Aren't I supposed to fight?" Asia looked to Rias who didn't actually answer and then stared innocently up at Ritsuka. "Aren't I?"

"Not necessarily. Asia, you are a healer. If you didn't want to fight then I could at least help you increase your healing prowess. If you say yes then… well I'll be training you in combat." Ritsuka advised the young former nun. Asia bit her thumb lightly in thought.

"I… I wish to fight as well. I don't want to hurt anyone… but I don't want to be a burden." Asia admitted as she held her hands together squeezing them quite tightly that the blood rushed to her fingers.

"Okay… Hm, well let's go with something a bit surprising from me." Ritsuka started.

"Again!?" Rias shouted in shock since she was getting a bit overwhelmed by the surprises.

"Heh… yeah. So while I'm not the most religious person, I do read from time to time. And in my time reading something like the Bible… one particular passage stood out to me, ya know." Ritsuka started… and waited to make sure his talk wouldn't hurt either of the devils. He had found out from all the times that Asia tried to thank god that it would give her a headache. Neither looked uncomfortable but both looked a bit curious.

"A passage? Which one?" Asia continued which Rias seemed interested in.

"Genesis 32:22 to passage 32:32. Also referenced in Hosea 12:4 where Jacob wrestled an angel for a full night and won. At least that's one interpretation at the very least. Did you know he actually formed a fighting style because of that?" Ritsuka chuckled as Asia seemed really amazed at the moment while Rias looked dumbstruck.

"Surely, you're kidding." Rias weakly offered but Ritsuka didn't look the least bit like he was joking.

"Not at all. He did develop a style of fighting only known as Jacob's Limbs. It was created specifically for fighting against Angels, angels of any kind I might add. Through his life his style was passed only to two other people. One you may know as Noah… and the other became known as Saint Martha." Ritsuka continued as Asia started to squeal in abject happiness at learning more about those saints canonized by the church. "So… a while back one of those spirits I might have contracted with was one of those saints and I so happen to be able to use that fighting style as well."

"Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!" Asia jumped at the chance which both made Rias smile and furrowed her brow in worry. This would probably get her in trouble later with the church… but would also make them all look stupid for allowing a sweet girls such as Asia to be made a pariah.

"You have that as well Ritsuka?" Rias left the exasperated smile on her face show because this was getting to be ridiculous to some degree… someone like this couldn't really exist.

"I have like three hundred plus different things I have to show. At most you've seen….nine maybe ten of them. Don't worry though. We're working together and I told you that I trust you already. No worries." Ritsuka gave off his warm smile… and Rias, for the life of her, couldn't deny that he was telling the truth.

"Oh my gosh… learning a saint's gift. Praise to the lo- " Asia immediately held her head as a migraine rocked her body. "Ow…"

"We really need to work on that still." Ritsuka sighed and chuckled as he patted Asia's head. "Okay… we're not exactly going to expect you to have amazing combat skills all in one day and I don't expect you to learn them all at once. No matter what happens I'll be making sure you know exactly how to handle yourself for future situations."

Ritsuka's eyes took on a deeper blue color and seemed to see through all falsities. Asia gulped slightly since Ritsuka had never stared her down like he did for other people. He always took great care with his gaze but for today there was an exception. Asia could finally feel exactly what everyone else could whenever his gaze met their own.

The weight wanted to make her buckle from how heavy it felt. The pressure on her back was nearly unbearable but she stood straight up.

For the next few hours she was forced through several stances. It was something that her lacking endurance could barely contend with. Luckily, her previous conditioning had let her make it through. Even as the others joined them after their own training had come to an end, only Koneko joined in learning the movements Ritsuka was performing.

Only by the end of the lesson did Ritsuka want her to punch anything.

"Okay… we got ya set up on stance, position, guard techniques and movement. It felt a bit similar to what Koneko does, didn't it?" Ritsuka seemed to speak with a country drawl… with a slight delinquent break every once in a while. It was something everyone noticed whenever he spoke after three hours of teaching.

Koneko seemed a bit more wary than the first day. Rias had noted that Ritsuka was technically using holy energy… but it was subdued to a point that the best it would do would be to knock someone out. Just like the night that Ritsuka had fought off the rogue priest it was something they soon became numb to.

"Yes!" Asia answered though her body was aching now. Now she understood why Koneko and Kiba had taken it really easy with her yesterday. Ritsuka trained like a monster. "I think I got it so far."

"Good. One last thing for you to do is punch something." Ritsuka brought out a pillow. "So… I'm gonna have you punch me."

"Eh!?" Asia answered in shock. Everyone else seemed to accept it as the most logical thing to do.

"Eh? Well yeah. You need to learn to punch and I don't have any punching bags." Ritsuka shook his head goodnaturedly. He could understand the hesitance.

"But… I don't want to punch you…" Asia looked down completely dejected at the idea.

"You're only going to punch the pillow I'm holding. You know the stances now and you know how to throw the punch for the most damage. I want to make sure you can handle it no matter what. This is a pretty big deal after all." Ritsuka mentioned, a look of pride danced across his gaze. "I have my own faith in what you can handle."

Asia fumbled with her hands a bit. She was kind of happy to be relied on. With a resolved sigh she took up a stance while Ritsuka held up the pillow. His whole body seemed to glow as well letting blue lines trace along his limb.

Taking up the first stance she was taught, Asia struck out with her right fist. It wasn't a very strong impact but she did manage to follow through with the punch.

"Again!" Ritsuka shouted out. As if on cue Asia leaned back with a left punch. It still didn't do much but she could follow through.

"Leg!" Ritsuka yelled and Asia followed through with a sharp heel drop. The pillow nearly fell out of Ritsuka's hand with how she performed. Though that made her stop.

"Oh! I'm so sorry I nearly broke the pillow." Asia apologized.

"It's fine! It's fine! That's it's job." Ritsuka chuckled. "You did fine for the first time. You still don't have the instinct for fighting but if worse comes to worst you can defend yourself much better without relying on others."

"Thank you for teaching… um, why does it feel like I'm fighting like a delinquent?" Asia asked as she steepled her fingers together in confusion. Everyone else seemed to be wondering the same thing if their faces were anything to go by.

"Because Saint Martha was kind of a delinquent like person. Also when they say that she tamed the Tarasque through prayer, that was actually a lie. She beat it into submission with her fist." Ritsuka revealed quite easily enough.

It was best to say that no one knew how to respond to that. Secrets from the church weren't something anyone was actually privy to. Asia herself seemed almost mystified by how much she was learning about the truth… or at the very least Ritsuka's truth from his world.

A few more stances were performed just to make sure Asia remembered them. When finished the group returned to the mansion. As much as Rias wanted them to train to the last moment, she decided on another course of action.

"Tomorrow I want everyone to rest. Saturday will be our big day and I don't want anyone to be exhausted when we get to the game field." Rias ordered as they teleported back inside the mansion.

"Got it!" It was the resounding call she got from everyone.

Everyone returned to their room leaving Rias alone in the living room. Before she could decide to head up to her room, the teleportation sigil lit up once more.

"Rias… we've got a small problem." Grayfia stated as she stepped out of the light. Rias could feel a headache coming up already.

Author's Notes:

So I know someone was talking about smut. That's in the main copy of the story over on AO3. In fact I just updated Chapter 27 over there. We're at twelve here so fifteen more days and we'll be caught up.

This is the... somewhat more SFW copy of the story. Albeit only in the fact that the explicit stuff will be saved for AO3 only. Sorry to say.