Satsuki calmly glanced back at the group as they all marched up the mountain towards the retreat that Rias had selected for their training regimen. Each of them was carrying a large pack of belongings to make the stay comfortable when they weren't training, everything from foodstuffs to clothing to bedding. While some of that could be provided by the retreat itself, Satsuki had been of the opinion that everyone should be prepared at all times to be self-sufficient to have the right mindset towards the training, so everything was packed.

While Rias' group's ability to carry the packs was easily explained away by their demonic nature, they had still been amazed at Satsuki's group easily shouldering their packs that rivaled those carried by Rias' group. Satsuki had told them this was proof that they had barely tapped their potentials, that 'mere humans' could rival them despite their 'enhanced abilities'. The fact that Gamagoori seemed to be carrying a tank in terms of weight on his back like it was nothing underlined that.

The only ones not carrying anything were Rias and Satsuki themselves. However, Satsuki had devised another means for training Rias that she was using herself. Working with Rias and Iori, they had developed a specific spell form they could write on their own bodies that would force them to keep their energies at maximum output at all times simply to be able to move normally. Rias was still adjusting to hers, while Satsuki was already moving at complete ease. With luck, this would push Rias' power to a level that if it did come down to a battle between Kings at the Rating Game, she would have enough energy to actually outlast his Phoenix regeneration. Satsuki would still consider it a failure if it came to that, but it would be an ace in the hole to keep from losing her head.

Once they reached the retreat, Satsuki turned to the group. "You all have ten minutes to put away your supplies, and then gather into groups for training. Yuuto, Uzu will be training you to push your limits as a swordsman. Asia, Akeno, Nonon will be teaching the two of you to press the limits of your magic. Ryuko, Iori has designed a special training program to push your abilities in terms of evasion, as plainly pushing your power is not a concern, especially with Senketsu's return. Rias, Houka has designed a training simulation for you to push your mastery of strategy and leadership, during which I will be your opponent. Koneko, you will be training with Ira. He has a special training regimen planned out for you."

Once everyone had affirmed that they understood their instructions, Satsuki struck the ground with the point of her sword in its sheath. The clack immediately set her own group running, and the others quickly followed suit. "I hope you know what you're doing," Rias murmured worriedly.

"I spent the past 15 years of my life planning and preparing to win a war against a force I knew to the marrow of my being was unbeatable, with the only thing keeping me going my own refusal to accept the outcome as predetermined," Satsuki responded firmly. "In the end, I was victorious."

"And how much of that was because you had Ryuko on your side?" Rias asked in a needling tone.

"And now you have her on your side in this conflict, so the point is moot," Satsuki responded curtly. "Now come. Houka!"

"Ready to activate whenever you two are comfortable," Houka responded as he carried over the combination magic/technology simulation generator, and a campaign book he'd designed specifically for this conflict:

Ender's War.

"Men! Dou! Kotei! Men! Dou! Koutei!"

The calls rang out rapidly as Yuuto struggled on the defensive to block every incoming strike and manage a counter attack. He had been surprised that his training was against a human, but he respected Uzu's skills having seen them in action during the assault to rescue Asia. However, even moving as fast as he felt he could, he was still being pressed by him. "How are you able to move so fast?" he gasped out as he finally managed to lock swords with the man, the wooden blades clacking loudly with the impact.

"Wrong question," Uzu responded calmly as he slipped the clash with ease, intercepting the follow up strike Yuuto attempted before he'd even moved. "The question is, why are you moving so slowly?"

"How are you able to follow my movements?" Yuuto demanded as he leapt back for distance, only to be forced to spin and block as Uzu was in position to attack before he landed.

"The fact that you have to ask proves that you've been slacking, coasting on your Knight nature," Uzu answered firmly as he returned to his rapid strikes. "Push yourself! Do you think you can strike down a god when your edge is so dull?"

"Why would I want to fight a god?" Yuuto demanded, only to be sent flying back as the next strike hit so hard that his blade shattered and the wake of the strike blew him back.

"If you aren't prepared to strike down a god, then you aren't giving every battle your all!" Uzu snapped out as he put his own wooden blade onto his shoulder. "Now use your Gear to make another blade. We're not done here."

Yuuto groaned as he pushed himself to his feet. "That's the fifth sword of mine you've shattered...this hour."

"Then learn to make them as strong as your own spirit, so they don't break," Uzu stated firmly, renewing his attack as soon as the weapon finished forming.

Nonon played her flute as Asia and Akeno watched. Asia watched in pleasure, eyes half closed as she swayed to the music. Akeno watched with a raised eyebrow and a critical ear. While the music was technically perfect, it followed no melody she had ever heard and seemed to rewrite itself whenever Nonon's mood shifted, without ever actually losing the original melody. While an impressive feat, she failed to see what it had to do with magic training.

After a time, Nonon lowered her flute as she ended her tune. "What's the lesson I'm teaching here?" she asked them both archly.

Akeno blinked in confusion. "I'm...not certain...The music was lovely, but I fail to see what it had to do with magic."

Nonon smirked smugly, then turned to Asia. "And what did you think?"

"It was the most beautiful song I've ever heard!" she breathed eagerly, still caught up in the rapture of the music. "The song delved from the flames of hell to the vaults of heaven, to the frozen depths of the sea!" As she spoke, the air around her became unbearably hot, incredibly thin, and icy cold in turn. "It was as though all of creation were infused into a melody!" Flowers sprouted in the dirt around her, growing and blooming into beauty. "It was like hearing the voice of God! I felt...saved..." As she said this last, sacred light seemed to emit from her being, not harming her but driving Akeno back to avoid being burned.

As the light faded, Nonon turned to Akeno with a smirk. "Demonic magic is driven by visualization and imagination...and yours is limited. Asia's isn't. The more clearly you can see something in your mind, the better you can visualize it happening for real, the more powerful your magic will be in making it happen." Holding up her flute, she made it hover over her hand as it glowed with magical energy. "Mine is strong enough that I'm able to do this just drawing on the ambient magic you two are releasing, with none of my own. With as strong as you are, Akeno, your magic should unleash much stronger than it does. It is because you're limiting yourself. Asia doesn't. It's time to break those limits. Asia can visualize the Light of Creation and God in her mind simply from a melody, to the point she can call it into being despite being a Devil. Let's see what you can do when you stop holding back, shall we?"

Akeno frowned pensively, biting her lip. She was holding back...but she didn't want to tap that power...

"Tomorrow we'll be expanding your imagination by watching Shounen anime," Nonon stated firmly. "There's a particular character I think you both can learn from." She held up the box set, a massively muscled blonde man dressed in red, white, and blue on the front.

Though Akeno tilted her head in confusion, Asia grinned happily, eager for every new experience.

Ryuko leapt back and forth through the air, twisting herself around to evade the lasers that swept the air and the light discs that swooped around her. None of them would actually hurt her if they tagged her, but that was part of the training. She had a tendency to shrug off incoming blows, relying on her durability, stamina, and regeneration to recover and push through. She needed to learn to treat every attack as dangerous, even when her senses told her it was pointless. As such, she was training on things that couldn't hurt her, and running with a score. She started at 100, and every moment of impact reduced her score by one, more if it passed through her.

She took a breath of relief as she landed and the simulation ended. "How'd I do?" she asked Iori hopefully.

"...12," he replied calmly, a frown on his face.

Ouch... Ddraig winced.

"You used to be better at dodging, Ryuko," Senketsu observed pointedly. "You've gotten lazy."

"Then why aren't you helping?" Ryuko demanded harshly.

"The point of this is to get you used to being better under your own power," Senketsu pointed out. "You know how much your abilities improve with my aid. Besides, I'm still only at 72% fibers. Even when I hit 100%, we don't know what the magical nature will do to our cooperative efforts. You need to be able to react to anything."

"Not only that, I've got the settings rather low," Iori pointed out. "You'll be using a Boost from Ddraig when I crank the settings up, and at that point you'll have permission for Promotion."

Ryuko sighed, then patted her cheeks to get her back into the right mindset. "Again," she told Iori firmly, bracing herself as she reacted to the lights moving again. At least I didn't get a zero before end this time.

"That's the spirit!" Ddraig encouraged her.

Koneko frowned in confusion as she followed Ira Gamagoori back down the mountain, well away from the retreat. While neither of them were breathing hard and both could easily make the return trek as unencumbered as they were, he seemed to be going quite far out of the way for this training. She paused as she felt something odd. "Gamagoori-san," she spoke up diffidently. "I can't feel Rias-sama and the others anymore."

"I know," Ira responded curtly. "They know that this outing will be taking you out of their range to sense you."

Koneko hesitated briefly, but continued to follow him. "Why is that?" she asked curiously.

Finally, Gamagoori turned around. "Because what's going to happen here, they aren't to interfere with," he stated firmly. "We're now far enough away that not even Kiba at his fastest could get here in time."

Koneko stared up at him nervously as he seemed to get more menacing. "In...time?"

"To stop me," Ira responded coldly. "Because this isn't training." His eyes lit up fiercely. "I'm going to kill you."