I'm really churning out chapters now. I wonder why? I guess the quarantine has given me some free time so the old creative juices started a flowin'. Whatever the case I hope you're all staying safe and keeping calm. Remember, the more we all stay put and self-isolate, the less stress is put on the health workers combating this global pandemic. So please, be calm, be respectful, be careful, stay positive and remember, we love you all.
I started this chapter before I put out the last chapter as a way of motivating myself to work harder. The previous chapter doesn't go out until the next chapter's done. It's also a way for you guys to know that I'm really trying to make progress. It also means that writer's block won't stop me from posting if enough time passes.
The first few weeks of his training since meeting his tutors had been fun, if nothing else. He kept up with his physical training, though now there were no bull-oak trees to train on aside from the one in the courtyard and Romulus absolutely refused to use it for training. His magical training and various other studies had been continuing as well, though Circe had taken over his library and curriculum. She was a fun person to be around and just as fun to learn from, though she still insisted on wearing her thin dresses. She'd told Romulus it was to keep some of her home with her, at least wearing what she would there.
She had once joked to him rather teasingly that if he had a problem with what she wore she could undress completely and he could dress her in new robes. Even at the age of nine(nine and a half, whenever he wanted to rub in Vali or Adrianna's face that he was the oldest of their group) he had the decency to blush and stammer out an uncomfortable denial, much to her amusement. Still Circe was an excellent teacher. She didn't seem phased by his inability to cast anything beyond the basics when it came to any form of magic beyond defensive spells and shields. Instead, she'd decided that if he was only able to perform the basics of such mystic arts, he'd learn to do so to absolute perfection.
She'd spent the first week he'd studied under her performing every form of basic magic that any young master of a magical household would be expected to know. He'd practiced his teleportation spell so many times now that even though he could still barely perform it, he knew where and how each and every particle of magic was used, where they fit in in his magic circle, and how they achieved their effects to realise the spell's effect. According to his teacher; 'One cannot master magic, without knowing the deepest secrets of how it works'.
Asushunamir on the other hand was similar enough to Circe but still different. They weren't the harsh task master that Tannin was, nor the playful teacher constantly harassing him with embarrassing talk that Circe was. Instead Asushunamir reminded Romulus more of Mephisto. Asushunamir was a kind person, with endless patience and a deep reserve of kindness and praise when Romulus did something right. On the other hand, they were also absolutely blunt, and pointed out even the smallest of flaws that might affect his performance.
The practice of controlling his chakra and utilising it alongside his demonic and heavenly powers had been slow going. According to Asushunamir the energies interacted with the body in entirely different ways that Romulus had had to spend weeks getting used to just to access his chakra in any exercise other than converting it into his other energies.
Romulus could still remember his first day training with his teachers.
Romulus followed along nervously. Asushunamir was his first lesson once breakfast was over so he was following his new teacher out to the courtyard he'd spent the day before practicing. He and his teacher were being trailed by Tannin while Circe had gone to take stock of the refurbished Titanius library and setting up a place for her and her new student to practice.
"So Romulus." Asushunamir spoke to their new student. "I've heard from Mephisto and Tannin that you've already learned how to balance your three energies, is that true?"
Romulus puffed up his chest with a small amount of pride.
"Yep, Mr Mephisto and Mr Tannin say I'm pretty good at it too."
"Good." Asushunamir smiled kindly. "If you weren't capable of at least that much there really wouldn't be much point in training you. How far have you come with Chakra until now?"
Romulus deflated slightly at what even he could recognize as a backhanded compliment. Tannin growled slightly from his place walking behind them and Asushunamir seemed a bit embarrassed.
"Oh, I'm so sorry about that. Sometimes I just say these things without thinking. You mustn't pay too much attention to that child."
"Ok."
"Wonderful, now as I was saying, have you been able to utilise chakra so far?"
"Not really, Mr Mephisto and Mr Tannin wanted me to get used to my demonic power first before I went to the others."
"Good, good. I'll be able to start from scratch then. Well child, let's get ourselves set and begin shall we?"
Romulus beamed up at his teacher as they entered into the training area Romulus had found yesterday. His teacher appraised the grounds and nodded as he looked around.
"Good, plenty of space, nothing to valuable or intricate that requires too much care, a good natural setup. Whoever designed this place knew what they were doing. Now, young lord, let's set up on that little island and we'll begin your training.
A few moments later Romulus had been directed to sit cross-legged on the little island, back against the bull-oak tree he sat under yesterday, with his teacher sitting in front of him and Tannin off on the main training grounds.
"Now." Asushunamir said. "Let's begin. Close your eyes child."
Romulus did what his teacher told him to.
"Now, feel the chakra, the energy of life, residing within you. Allow it to flow."
Romulus focused on the part of himself that held his chakra. He loosened the restraints Mephisto had taught him to place on his energy, only this time he didn't use it to augment his other stores of energy. The power of life flowed through his body, forcing his demonic power out of the pathways that they'd always coursed through and causing a sharp sting to prick him wherever the two energies merged.
Yelping, his concentration broke and he opened his eyes to see his teacher looking at him.
"My chakra won't move." Romulus said. "It doesn't mix with my demonic power."
"Because you're trying to get them to occupy the same space in your body." Asushunamir berated him gently. "It's a classic mistake for beginners, so I suppose I should have warned you. Chakra is the energy of life. You might keep most of it in your core, but every single cell in your body possesses it's own reserve. You need to connect those individual pinpricks of power together, then your chakra will be able to flow throughout your entire body without interfering with the flow of your other energies. All three of your powers are not meant to reside in the same being, so your body has formed different pathways for each to use. To balance your different reserves you've been forcing them to flow through your most commonly used pathways without allowing them to flow through their native routes. Demonic and heavenly power circles through the body in a system similar to veins while spreading out to the rest of your body, like irrigation. Chakra is more like a pool. Your body is a pond, with the chakra spreading out naturally until they reach the edge of your being. Try again now."
Romulus nodded, and settled back into his trance. He focused on the chakra within his body and trying to envision a different path for his chakra to take he tried again to let his powers flow parallel to each other.
Once again he yelped as his body was stung by the mixing of his energies outside of their cores.
"Better, you expanded farther without allowing them to mix but you mustn't let your chakra occupy the pathways of your demonic or heavenly power. Your body is not yet strong enough to handle them clashing. in time, you'll become numb to the pain of their mixing or gain enough control to do so without causing pain. Either way, practice is your only method for improvement. Continue, we do not have an abundance of time in the day."
The next two hours were focused on Romulus trying again and again to spread his chakra out along his body without clashing with his other powers. In the wake of some attempts Asushunamir would offer some kind of advise on how to improve, but each time he had a plethora of mistakes for Romulus to fix. By the end of the two hours Romulus was sore all over his body, frustrated beyond belief, and tired like he'd gone a round with Vali. That wasn't to say they were without praise. Whenever Romulus managed to fix one of the many identified mistakes Asushunamir was the first to point it out and congratulate their pupil on his small improvements.
"That's enough for now." Asushunamir said, prompting Romulus to get up from his stance. "Now we'll move on to the next exercise. You will need not only to utilise the chakra within yourself, but also sense chakra in the world around you."
Romulus nodded before his new teacher moved on.
"Now sit under the waterfall."
Romulus unfurled his wings, leaping over until he reached the pouring water. Just where the waterfall met the basin's level, where was a section of smooth rock, likely carved that way by whatever member of his family had constructed the grounds. The water poured over his head, soaking his cloths and chilling his body. The cold swept away the irritation and pain of his many failures at expanding his chakra.
"Now, I will energize the Chakra in the surrounding area. I want you to identify what I am energizing and also try to sense the chakra that exists around you."
Romulus nodded and set to concentrating. He tried to sense the chakra around him, but it was difficult. Demonic power and other forms of magic tended to radiate out of people, it was easy to identify them because even without actively casting magic those who possessed it at least subtly gave off some kind of magic signature. Chakra was different. It didn't radiate out of people, at least not the same way.
"Do not try and sense magic child, you won't get anywhere with that. Now, feel the world around you. Feel the call of nature, of life."
Romulus tired. He focused on the feeling of the water pounding on his shoulders and back. He focused on the ripples that lapped and beat against his legs. He tried to smell the scent of the grass and the tree that rested on the island not far from him. The world passed him by as he waited and tried to feel the call of nature around him. The world was still and silent, as even the sound of the waterfall drowned away into the stillness and blackness.
It happened in a moment. The world seemed to light up. Even with his eyes closed he could somehow see the training grounds around him. He heard sounds in his ears, the sounds of animals calling out to each other, he heard the sounds of leaves swirling in the wind. There was a singing too, a soft humming more like, it was peaceful, but haunting. It was beautiful, but it sang of cruelty.
"Good."
The sound of his teacher's voice cut through the song, through the sounds, but didn't dispel them. "Now, I'm going to begin. Tell me what you feel."
The world broke out into color. The tree on the small island, his tree, lit up in bright light. The green of the leaves and brown of the bark melded together into a single color that was both brown and green, but also neither.
"I feel the tree."
"Good, and now?"
The tree's brightness dimmed, and instead the water surrounding him lit up in a shimmering blinding light.
"The water."
"Good, unfortunately our time is up."
Romulus' eyes shot open as he stared around him.
"What? But Mr. Asuchunamir-"
"Call me Mr. Namir, it's shorter"
"Mr Namir, we've still got a lot of time left."
"No we don't child, you spent almost two hours working to sense the chakra even though I'd energized the entire area, and then the remaining time you spend identifying the tree and the water."
Romulus was shocked and turned to Tannin to confirm what his new tutor had said. The dragon king nodded his head before speaking up.
"Come on Romulus, we need to get you cleaned up before lunch and your lessons with Circe."
The boy turned to Asushunamir, who gestured with his head to for him to join the dragon.
"Go child, we'll continue on tomorrow."
Romulus got up from under the waterfall, flew soaking wet over to his guardian, who handed him a warm, large, fluffy towel for him to dry off with.
"Come on kid, the more time you spend staring, the less there is to learn."
Adrianna Lorelei had been a devil for less than a month. In that time she'd joined her soul to her best friend's, augmented her power so much she could barely believe that everybody didn't give their souls away(an exaggeration but seriously, it was awesome), fought against other devils in a pocket dimension to save her friend from having to marry some girl neither of them had ever met, and unlocked her sacred gear that she's read was one of the strongest in the entire system.
Now she was training alongside one of her only other friends to better understand her power and to properly awaken it. Azazel and Mephisto had taken her and Vali off into the lands of the fallen angels, a place in the underworld that was, according to what she'd read, as large and in some ways larger than the lands of the devils. Her and Vali's tutors had taken them to an abandoned section of land, an arid desert where little grew and even less thrived. The desertion of the area for literal greener pastures had made it ideal for both Azazel's secret projects, and the training of two powerful Longinus users. She could see Vali off in the distance, or more specifically she could see the blue contrail of light he left in his wake as he soured through the sky. His Divine Dividing wings added greatly to his speed but now, alongside Azazel's help, he was trying to push his body to go beyond the standard limits of the sacred gear and enter into the balance breaker mode.
"Focus Ms Lorelei, you will need absolute focus if you are to deepen your connection to your gear."
Mephistopheles had become her primary tutor since she'd started her training a week ago, and the work she'd been instructed to perform was pushing her to the limit.
Every day was the same. She either fought Vali until they were both exhausted, or fought either of their assigned teachers. The constant battling drained her magic and her body constantly, and once she was at the point of no return, completely drained, Mephisto or Azazel would introduce some kind of threat in an attempt to unlock their balance breakers through the stress. As of yet none of those attempts had worked.
"Can't I just research more about my gear?" Adrianna asked Mephisto. "If I just understand it more, then I can find a way to activate it."
"If it were that easy to activate the balance breaker Ms Lorelei, everyone with access to a proper library would attain it. To truly unlock the full power of your gear you will need a great deal of will, and just as likely a situation of great stress."
"I just wish I could activate my gear somehow without all this. If I could activate it without my balance breaker I might figure out how to get further."
"Perhaps you could Ms Lorelei, unfortunately the Innovate Clear is a passive gear until it reaches balance breaker, only then can it be activated into a similar form to what you released during the rating game against the young lord Riser."
The two were distracted by a flash of light. High in the sky where Vali's silvery blue contrails ended there was some kind of winged figure. Clad in white and blue armor, energy wings expanding further out and an armoured tail swaying behind him, Vali achieved balance breaker.
Then he didn't.
The armour shattered and Vali fall towards the ground. A flash of black feathers streaked from the ground and Azazel was catching his young ward and lowering him down to the earth. Adrianna observed Vali, and Mephisto watched as her eyes almost seemed to dissect the boy even from where they were.
"I'll try again."
Adrianna fell to the ground in a sitting position, closing her eyes and focusing. Mephisto watched as she focused her magic, condensing it further and further. Soon she was a shining beacon of light to his senses and then even that changed. Her powers collapsed together so densely it was almost like watching a black hole, the magic disappeared into her control so tightly that not even residue escaped for him to sense. Adrianna became a gap in the magical realm of the underworld. Everything else was made of magic and radiated it as such, but while with his eyes he could see her, her magic was a void.
It happened slowly, the air began to grow stale and the ground cracked and become brittle. Mephisto watched as little by little, the magic of the world around his pupil was pulled towards her and then disappeared within her. The magic of the very underworld was being devoured. Mephisto could hear her reciting something under her breath, and recognised it as the entry on balance breakers from one of the books he possessed on sacred gears.
"Balance breaker is triggered by great emotions and danger, often they are formed from the user's will and desire to survive against and overcome insurmountable odds."
The air around Adrianna cracked and splintered. Mephisto retreated in the face of such a thing, not out of fear. As powerful as Adrianna was for her age it wouldn't take more than a moment's concentration and he could reduce her to atoms. Instead he wanted distance to better observe the blooming sorceress.
"Interesting."
The world continued to crack around the girl. Flickering in and out of existence in front of her was a moderately sized book. It was engraved with intricate carvings and coloured a soft emerald green with lines of purple and opal.
Suddenly Adrianna's power exploded out of her, the effort of containing it too much for the girl. She collapsed forwards, panting and wheezing as the book faded away and left her. Magic was flooding off of her now, everything she'd kept contained as well as the magic she'd absorbed from the world around her flooding out uncontrollably.
Gasping, a quartet of magic circles formed around the girl. From one of them a torrent of water flowed. Another poured storm-clouds which began to circle in the sky. Soon enough the clouds released their rain and added to the water that was already soaking the earth.
The third circle churned the wet ground, while the fourth shot some form of energy into the roiling earth. Before long grass began to grow around the girl and small trees sprouted out, forming a small circle of life around her.
Mephisto watched in fascination as Adrianna converted the magic she couldn't contain to spells. This patch of the underworld was always being bombarded by the residual magics used by the three factions during the great war. It was likely that the plants Adrianna had sprouted would die in due time, but for now it was an impressive feat.
"A good effort Ms Lorelei, care to try again?"
The girl looked up as her teacher, one of his eyebrows raised in question. Sweating and panting and overwhelmed after her efforts she got back into her pose, and tried again for force her gear to listen to her.
After lunch Romulus headed to his first lesson with his new magic teacher. Walking down the corridors he felt a little off about going alone. Normally Adrianna would be with him, chattering excitedly with him about whatever new spell she had become enamoured with and what they might learn in the coming lesson. Now he was alone, well not really Tannin was with him but the old dragon wasn't the same as having he best friend (except maybe Vali) with him.
Circe had decided to have him study with her in the large meeting room at the top of the family's estate, overlooking the entire area. Spread out around her were various books and scrolls, as well as a few odd looking items.
"Welcome my dashing little student, I hope Asushunamir wasn't too tough with you. I wouldn't want to ride you too hard on your first day with me."
Tannin chuckled under his breath but Romulus just smiled at the woman.
"It was ok Ms Circe, it was fun actually. I learned a lot from Mr Namir."
Circe smiled innocently at the boy "Oh good, well then it's about time you sat down with me isn't it, take a chair little one, hurry up."
Romulus hurried over and sat himself on one of the large, backed chairs next to his other tutor.
"Now, Tannin and dear Mephisto have told me that you've yet to begin training in the arts of heavenly power. Is that right?"
He nodded.
"Yes Ms Circe, I've gotten pretty good with demonic magic but Mr Mephisto said he wanted me to be older before he let me train in it so I didn't hurt myself."
Circe smiled down at the boy.
"Good. Now, I'm sure Asushunamir has told you about the various pathways that heavenly and demonic powers use to travel throughout the body."
Romulus nodded.
"Well, since we'll need you to unlock your powers before we get to training you to use them let's get started shall we?"
Within moments the room was cleared of everything and the two were seated in the center of the room.
"Now." Circe began. "Heavenly power is not the power of the Angels. They utilise holy power, while most still can use some form of heavenly due to their connection to the Christian heaven they are not the same thing. This is lucky for you dear boy because it means that you won't naturally reject that power, nor will it be inherently corrosive to you as holy energy would be. Now, let's begin by opening up your reserves and circulating them without having them touch your demonic energies."
Romulus focused his power, loosening the restraints that he naturally put on the unpracticed power. He allowed it to flow like the chakra he had practiced with not long ago, but found that like before his energies were mixing. This time however it was not his demonic power that was getting in the way. Instead his heavenly power was mixing with the routes his chakra had traveled through. Unlike the sharp stinging that came from the mixing of chakra and demonic energy, this was a burning sensation that expanded through his body.
"You're using the wrong paths."
Romulus shook out of his stupor as he felt his heavenly power receded.
"I've pulled your power back, now try again. Your body has the pathways necessary for you to use heavenly power, they've just atrophied without use, or more likely since you have yet to use them they haven't gotten the chance to be expanded."
Again, like the chakra before it, Romulus tried again and again to expand his heavenly power through his body. However, every time he tried he either ended up forcing it through the demonic power that he normally used, or the new chakra paths he had developed with Asushunamir. Finally, after countless failed attempts, Circe told him to stop.
"It's not working Ms Circe, every time I try to stop sending it one way, it just goes the other."
"That does seem to be a problem." Circe pondered. "I suppose most don't gain access to three seperate sources of power at once like this. Normally those who possess heavenly energy are born with it as divine or semi-divine beings, or gain it later in life when they might learn to control their bodies better."
Circe contemplated the problem for a few moments, looking over the boy while not seeming to see him. Romulus shuddered slightly as Circe seemed to see through him.
"There might be a way, but it's a little dangerous."
"What is it?" Tannin growled from his place.
Circe turned to include the dragon king in the conversation.
"Devils are beings of magic, same as most magical species as you would expect. However, Romulus is a special case as he possesses now only the standard powers of devils and demons, but two other powers."
"Right." Tannin said as Romulus nodded along.
"Because he possesses these powers and focused so long on his more natural demonic abilities it allowed the pathways that used his other energies to become atrophied. Now he's trying to open his other two powers but only one pathway was open. The chakra training opened another of the paths. Now, whenever Romulus tries to force his heavenly power out, he forces it through the path that isn't closed, and he isn't capable of closing both the paths of chakra and demonic power at once."
"Makes sense." Tannin nodded. "So what's the idea, and why's it dangerous?"
"It's possible that we can seal away his demonic and chakra energy paths and block off any other ways for the heavenly power to expand other than their natural paths."
"Ah, I see, devils need their demonic power to live, to seal it off like that could put his life in danger."
"But Romulus' body doesn't only produce demonic energy. I believe that even if we seal off the two energies, his heavenly power will be able to sustain him, and if now, hopefully at least keep him alive long enough for us to confirm the theory."
"But it still requires that we put the hatchling's life on the line."
"We can always take the long route for the same effect, the only difference is that instead of him sealing off his own power later on, we'll be doing it now."
"Hmmm." Tannin tilted his head downwards, contemplating the Greek sorceress' idea. "It's up to the kid, it's his body, his magic. What do you say kid? Wanna give this a go?"
Romulus looked between his two teachers, thinking. This training was meant to make him stronger. If he was stronger, he could fight against eh Maous, he could beat them, or get closer to beating them. More than that, Vali and Adrianna were also training to get stronger. Would they get a lot stronger than him and leave him behind if he couldn't keep up?
He looked up at his oldest teacher and his new teacher.
"I'll do it. Do we start now?"
Circe smiled.
"Yep, now hold still."
"Wha-"
The floor under Romulus lit up with a magic seal. Tendrils of light latched onto him at various points and his body began to feel again like it was burning.
"Remember." The voice of Circe broke through the light. "This is only sealing of your demonic and chakra pathways. It's up to you to force your heavenly power to circulate, just relax and concentrate."
Trying to listen to his tutor, he tried to focus on the wells of power within him. Before he could feel all three, though they all felt distinct. Now, not only couldn't he feel the powers of his demonhood or his chakra he could barely feel his body.
"The seals have taken effect. Your demonic power and chakra have been sealed off, as well as their pathways through your body. You should feel numb now that their energy is no longer flowing properly, that's normal... I think. Anyway, expanding your heavenly power should restore feeling as it circulates around your body, just focus."
Romulus tried once again, feeling the well of energy expand. It was a strange feeling. Now only was he forcing a power he hadn't used before, but he could feel it pushing through in ways he'd never felt before. The power expanded outwards, differently to either of his other powers. The numbness slowly faded away from his limbs as the power grew and moved. He could feel his fingers, then his legs, and finally his toes wiggled as a pins and needles feeling swept across his flesh.
"Good you've finally gotten the hang of it."
Surprised, Romulus became aware of Circe and Tannin looking down at him.
"You took a while little one, but it seems you've learned how to move your heavenly power through their own pathways, now we just have to work on not letting them cross over and mix harmfully with your other powers."
The magic circle faded away and all of a sudden Romulus could feel all of his power, and just as quickly he felt them clash. He yelped out as the chakra leaked out and mixed with his demonic power. Then the subtle burning sensation came as heavenly power mixed together with his other energies.
He groaned out, wrapping his arms around his stomach and curling in on himself as he tried to reign in his warring powers. He felt a hand pat on his back, offering relief as something else entered his system and separated his powers.
"There kid, that should help, but you're gonna need to learn how to keep all those powers separate or you're never gonna improve in your training."
"Oh hush lord Tannin, it's his first day, I believe he did rather admirably."
Romulus got up from the floor, looking at the sorceress. He set his face into a determined look.
"Now what? Can we keep going?"
Circe looked at him, her own face one of deep concentration before it instantly broke into a grin and she glomped him.
"Oh, you look so serious and cute." She squealed pulling Romulus close. "Oh now I really want to just take you home with me. You'd be the most adorable little kitten, such a handsome face, oh Medea would be so jealous of me if I showed you to her."
Romulus blushed as he felt Circe hug him to her chest. Her already unreasonably thin dress was riding up and down as she hugged him, giving him an almost unobstructed view of what she looked like under the fabric.
"Mr Tannin." He asked desperately of the former dragon king. "Help please."
Tannin laughed at his pupils predicament. He gestured slightly to the witch and with a slight pout Circe let go of the young devil.
"Well." She smiled at Romulus. "Now that that's out of the way. I have some basic spells that use heavenly power that I think we should try out. If you think you can my little kitten."
Vali soared through the sky at lightning speed. Behind him he knew he'd been leaving a trail of light that faded away as he moved. He'd become faster than ever after all of his time training with Romulus and Adrianna, but over the last few weeks since he and his only female friend had begun their training in achieving balance breaker he'd pushed himself to go faster than ever before.
Azazel and Mephisto hadn't pulled any punches with their training and every day he and Adrianna had been forced to fight. Since her reincarnation into a devil Adrianna had become much more powerful, so much so that Vali wasn't even relishing the chance to fight her anymore. Fighting against his friend, at least until he could once again level his powers with hers, was a forgone conclusion. He couldn't get close enough to activate his gear on her without being shot out of the sky, and she had more than enough power an energy to harass him from nearly miles away. At least the constant danger and push to get stronger against his friend had meant that he'd progressed further than her in their sacred gear training, though he only took a small, secret pride in that. Adrianna had been trying for the last week to get her gear under control by condensing her magic to the point where activating her gear was a matter of survival.
It had worked, somewhat. The gear's balance breaker form would phase in and out of existence but it would never fully manifest, and Adrianna would be forced to let the power go in either wild burst of energy, or spells that would change the land she practiced in.
Vali's training on the other hand had consisted of pushing his body to the limit and beyond, forcing the powers of Albion to manifest more and more as he fought and grew. Albion's voice was also a constant source of both praise and condescension. Whatever else Vali could say about the dragon he knew how to get Vali motivated. Taunts about Adrianna's strength and how much Romulus must be progressing were infuriating enough that Vali finally broke the sound barrier in the second week of his training, and since then he'd improved to nearly mach 2.4 according to Azazel's instruments. The only taunts the dragon could throw at him more frustrating were in regards to the red dragon Ddraig and their own chosen wielder. He could still here Albion's latest taunt in his mind.
'If you can't even do this much, then how will you fare against our ultimate rival. Ddraig would crush you like an insect.'
Vali grit his teeth, forcing his own magic and his demonic power through his veins and all across his body. He sped up suddenly as the influx of power surged through his wings, and he felt himself reach a new level.
The armour began to form around him. First his wings would expand to accommodate the new additions, then the chest, legs and arms would form. Finally, the helmet would close itself over his face and transform his visage into that of a dragon.
Vali felt the strength pour through him, he felt Albion's power, his power, fill him to the brim and then explode outwards. He tried to stabilise the power, feeling the chaotic nature of it rip and tear through the solid structure of the armour. Vali knew he wouldn't be able to keep the Scale Mail going for long so he resolved to explore as much of its power as possible before it faded. Maybe if he did he might be able to get a better grasp on what he would need to do to fully claim this power.
He flew through the air, testing his speed and maneuverability and found that not only was he faster than ever before, but his control was sharper. He rocketed towards the ground, pulling up to soar along the underworld's barren ground just before he slammed into it. If he reached out a hand he'd be able to touch the ground, but at the speeds he was going at it would likely cause him to crash, or scrape of his armour.
The power suddenly destabilised, causing the Scale Mail to crack and shatter, reverting back the normal wings of the divine dividing. The sudden lack of protection meant that he slammed into the air at speeds far greater than his young body could take. At those speeds the air was almost like concrete and so Vali tumbled to the ground, skidding along before he finally came to a stop, caked in dirt and coughing up dust.
"Well, that was better than the last time."
Vali pushed himself up despite his protesting body and turned to his guardian and teacher. Azazel flew up to him, easily keeping up with his brief balance breaker and setting down in front of the young dragon emperor host.
"You've been able to activate the balance break just fine over the last few days." He said, causing a small flare of pride in Vali. "But it's too brittle, wild, and rigid right now and you lose control too quickly. You need to get your emotions under control Vali or you're never gonna get it under control."
Vali wanted to protest but didn't. More than anyone else Azazel knew what he was talking about when it came to Sacred Gears and more than that the fallen angel wanted him to succeed.
"So what do I do?" He asked.
"You've been using physical training to activate your gear so far. It's fine as a starting point but now you have to slow down. You need to try and start the balance break without moving so fast. Give yourself some time to concentrate on actually keeping it active and controlling it instead of just riding the wave."
Vali nodded.
"Follow me Vali, we'll get you calmed down in no time." The fallen angel smirked mischievously at Vali over his shoulder. "Hopefully before that little lady Lorelei finishes her training so we can brag that I'm the better teacher between Mephisto and me."
Vali smirked back at his guardian. He knew Azazel didn't really care about who finished their training first, but it was a way of showing encouragement to Vali, and the faith that he had in him that he'd succeed in taming Albion's power.
The weeks since he'd gone back to living in his old family house had been tough. The memories were still everywhere, but Tannin had been keeping him busy and grounded so as not to overwhelm him. He still didn't go anywhere near the library, his old room, or his parents' rooms but the compound was still plenty big enough that he could keep his mental demons locked a safe distance away in a part of the house he'd never have to visit.
The training under Circe and Asushunamir had progressed well however. At least, he thought so. Ever since his first day he'd been working tirelessly with his tutors to gain control of his warring powers. Asushunamir pushed him harder and harder everyday to gain awareness of the natural energy that existed all around him. They didn't tolerate Romulus making the same mistake twice, and refused to rest until any mistakes were ironed out through rigorous practice.
Circe was different but no less demanding. He didn't advance as far with her, but she'd been pushing him to understand the very fundamental nature of magic and how it interacted with the world around him. Normal, non-defence oriented magics, which were already difficult for him, were drilled into his head and practiced until they could be done without error or delay. He remembered how, a few months prior, when he'd struggled to form a simple summoning circle to move his newly acquired evil pieces. He couldn't make his circle any bigger really, but he could now, after several months of repetition and tedium, cast them in his sleep. Likewise several other more basic spells that he had struggled with before were now almost second nature to him. According to Circe his talent and capabilities capped out at those spells and perhaps some enlarged versions of them but luckily they were all he'd really need in terms of pure utilitarianism and he had progressed remarkably in his usage of shield magics. Chakra and heavenly power opened up entirely new avenues for him. New spells to practice with and old weaknesses that no longer posed as large a threat as they might once have.
The morning marking his each month of training came and went in a flash, passing him by almost without recognition until Tannin would make a mention of it and how he'd progressed during the time. To Romulus, the notion of just how long he'd been training saddened him somewhat. He wasn't disappointed with the training. Both Circe and Asushunamir were great teachers and under them he'd learned a lot. Tannin hah continued his training the the physical arts as well, teaching him more and more about fighting magical beings with access to incredible powers.
What saddened Romulus most was that he couldn't spend time with his two closest friends. He hadn't seen Adrianna or Vali since he'd left to begin his training and they'd gone off to start theirs. While he would swap letters with the two on occasion it wasn't the same as getting to talk to them face to face. Added to that Mephisto hadn't visited since he'd arrived at the Titanius estates though he knew that Tannin was sending his guardian regular updates. He'd shared these concerns with Tannin but all the old dragon king had told him was;
"Just keep focused kid, nothing you can do until the training is finished so you might as well get the most out of it."
So Romulus tried, he focused on his training, learned as much as he could from all of his teachers and tried to absorb every lesson they had to teach him. He got farther than even in his attempts to use his chakra and heavenly power, actually succeeding in forming a high-class defence shield with both, and under a joint lesson he'd even started to learn how to merge his powers, though both of his tutors warned that he should wait until his body was strong enough to take the strain.
And so the days went by and like the like before Romulus began to lose track of his worries in the face of his work and progress. The days went by until finally a certain day came. It was the day that marked his third full month in his family's old house and like any other, Romulus woke up at seven thirty in the morning on the dot. The routine was so ingrained in his mind now that he didn't even really need the alarm clock that rested on his bedside table. His hand slapped on the power button, turning off the alarm before it even had the chance to ring. He rose from his bed, rubbing his eyes and grabbing a set of clothes from the wardrobe that rested against the wall. Picking out the clothes he wanted to wear for the day he headed into the connected shower and proceeded to wash himself and prepare for the day.
Finishing his routine he wandered out of his room and towards the dinning room, where the morning's meal would be served until it came the time for his daily lessons.
When he entered the dinning hall, he sat in his normal seat, across from his tutors and next to Tannin as the four of them ate their breakfast.
"Romulus."
Romulus looked up at Asushunamir, who had addressed him.
"It's been three months and you've become proficient in using both your heavenly power and your chakra."
"Thanks Mr Namir." Romulus smiled.
"However." Circe said. "Asushunamir has decided that you should be able to learn the next step in utilising chakra, and I concur with him."
The young boy looked between his teachers with wide eyes.
"What does that mean?" He asked curiously.
"Well Romulus, I think it is time that we begin to teach you how to control the inner chakras of your body , and show you how to utilise the power of Touki that comes from it."
And there we have it. It's not over, and don't expect to see any balance breakers yet. Those are usually unlocked through stress and pain, see Issei, Kiba, Gasper, Saji, pretty much everyone with a sacred gear. However, there will be a time skip coming up. Nothing much really, we'll just be fast forwarding through a few months of training because while I could outline everyday of training, it's more interesting to see the major improvements and then get to actual story progression.
Anyway. I've also got some updates on some miscellaneous info. I've stated before that Romulus is the oldest of his group, being nine and half (as of chapter 5) while Adrianna and Vali are nine years five months and nine years old respectively. I've done some research and have decided on concrete birthdays for our characters.
Vali's birthday is canonically June 6th (just one day before Sona) and so Romulus' birthday is in December, specifically December 13th. Mark it down. Being a month younger than Romulus, Adrianna is born in January. Once again, specifically January 24th.
Both Romulus and Adrianna are older than Rias, who's birthday is April 9th. Additionally, since the cut off date for the Japanese school year is April 1st, they are actually a year ahead of Rias according to Japanese school grade systems. Of course as they live in Europe they would be under the European cut off date which is usually around late August or early September, meaning they would be in the same grade.
As of this chapter, three more months have passed, meaning that this chapter takes place some time in September or early October.
Now, this is actually a little screwup on my part. Now I'd planned out the next addition to Romulus' peerage to happen sooner, but due to checking the actual timeline of events in the light novel I realised that the events that would lead to Romulus' next members are actually nearly two years after the previous few chapters, so another time skip would be needed. However, I don't want to spend too much time skipping, which would make the progress feel empty so I'm actually reworking things to better show off the growth of power amongst our characters. Additionally, there are characters that are introduced in the background: for example Lavinia Reni, who actually should be showing up fairly soon according to the timeline set by the Slash/Dog and DXD series, who are not a major part of this story. To fix this I decided instead that we might see some changes and some separation of our characters. I'm working on rectifying this and adding in some mini training-arcs here and there that will carry over and allow me to fill in the time between different sections of the story.
Finally. I've been wondering. If I move on to the next arc, should I post it as a seperate story, or continue it here? Let me know what you think.
Also finally, if you guys find any spelling or grammar errors please let me know in a review or something, I'll correct them where I can.