"You guys got invited to do a Rating Game?"

Sanosuke asked Serena as the two were sitting across another in the cafeteria. The two were having lunch and Sanosuke could already feel the death glares aiming at his direction.

"Why is the new guy sitting with Serena-sama?"

"Just who is that jerk?"

"Could it be he's Serena-sama's boyfriend?"

'What an honest group of students,' Sanosuke thought. Sanosuke took a sip of his drink. He also thought it was a bit sudden for her to ask him to accompany her to the cafeteria. It was only a day since he got back from his job, though.

Serena nodded before she said. "Yes, we were invited just before you came back. Its really just a test match though, to gauge our strength in battle and the King's ability to think."

"But why? I thought Rating Games are for mature devils only. How come you and your servants got invited to do a Rating Game?" Sanosuke asked. It was a known fact that in the world of devils, the Rating Games are only participated by only high-class or higher mature devils with the exception of the Four Maous who are said to be unrivaled in many aspects. In ways, it is like the Devils version of soccer, well known through the whole world, and had a large following. For many Devils, the Rating Games serves as the best way to progress up in the social ladder, to move up from the Low-Class to High-Class.

"Well its because the House of Asmoday, my family, are in charge of the Rating Games in the Underworld and my father is head of the institute that teaches High-Class Devils how to work during a Rating Game." Serena explained. "Since I'm of the right age, I've been invited to join the institute and we have to do a Rating Game for the institute to gauge each of the Peerage abilities. It is by knowing that, it allows the Institute to properly place each piece of every Peerage into the right categories, which are Support, Technique, Power and Wizard. So depending on how strong the member is in that category, they can be placed into the right class. The classes can be made up of different pieces though, with the exception of the Kings taking a their own special class. So it is not uncommon for a pawn and bishop to be in the same class or a knight and a rook in the same class. Though what is really important that by the end of the month long semester is a Rating Game, which is held to show how much you've improved."

To have a school that teaches a popular game in the underworld makes a lot of sense, not many people can just learn it off the bat. "So who's the other Devil you'll be picking a fight then?" Sanosuke asked.

"My older twin sister, Dina Asmoday." The thought of fighting her brought a sad look on Serena's face.

"Really, to be put against your own sibling, its harsh of them." Sanosuke said.

"Its because its picked at random." He heard another voice. he turned around to see Rheena Seere walking up towards him. "It was by chance that Serena was placed against her sister."

Sanosuke seemed to recall who she was. "You are…If I recall, Rina Shinra-senpai?"

"Her real name is Rheena Seere, another Devil in this school." Serena properly introduce the two. "Rheena, this is the person I've talked to you about."

Rheena simple bowed before she said. "Pleasure to meet you, Sanosuke Kiriya. I've heard rumours about you."

Rumours? He hoped they weren't bad. "Well I guess nice to meet you too." Sanosuke greeted back.

"Serena-san, have you asked him yet?" Rheena asked bluntly, turning her attention to Serena.

"Not yet," Serena twiddled her fingers shyly as she blushed. "I was going to."

"Asked me what?" Sanosuke asked, wondering where this might lead to.

"Well, we were wondering if you could train some of us to fight?" Serena asked.

"Wait what?" Sanosuke was surprised, asking again to reconfirm what they both had just said.

"Its just as we said. We would like you to train some of our members for the upcoming Rating Games." Rheena repeated.

-x-x-

Life 2: Teenage Battle Camp

-x-x-

It was the first day of training and the two Peerages were hiking to a place within the mountains for their training. Sanosuke also tagged along with them as he had accepted to train some of their members. Each person carried a bag with them that held their personal belongings, with Xarin and Kuzuha carrying more stuff than the rest could due to their superior strength. Sanosuke carried his stuff along with a long suitcase-like box in his left hand. When asked what it was, Sanosuke only told them that it was a present sent to him by an old friend. When they arrived, they saw a white mansion in the middle of an open space, along with a small house near the edge of the space.

"Another mansion in the woods?" Keisuke said to himself as he looked to the large building.

"It's a house owned by my family. There is no one else here and there won't be for another 5 kilometers radius." Serena explained.

Rheena nodded, "In other words, we are free to be as destructive as we want as long it is part of our training."

"Well either way, we are starting our training as soon as we arrive." Serena told the group.

Iria pouted. "Really? Serena-san. Is it really necessary?"

Rei followed. "Yeah? We just spent this whole time getting here."

Lisa just looked annoyed. "As I thought…Iria…You are such a lazy ass!" she growled at her short blonde haired teammate.

Iria turned to the flame haired girl and replied, "Well at least I can take a break! Unlike you, miss fire brain reaper!" A fight ensued between the two girls.

"Iria-oneesama…Lisa-oneesama…" Cule sighed at her sworn elder sisters' behavior.

Sylvia and Keisuke looked to the group before looking at each other. "Such a comedic turn out!" both thought as the same time.

Rheena cleared her throat, causing her servants to look at her. "Time is against us. And we need to use all the time we have for the upcoming games." Rheena told her group.

Serena looked to Sanosuke who had been quite the whole time as he surveyed the area around the mansion. "You don't if we start training now right?" she asked him.

Sanosuke turned to her before nodding. "Yeah. That will be a good idea." He answered her.

-x-x-

The Training had been split into three parts, combat training, magic training and strategy training. It was decided that Sanosuke and Xarin would lead the combat training due to them having the most experience in fighting, Kaoru, Miyu and Shizuka would teach them magic whilst Xarin would also help with strategy, which is for only Serena and Rheena.

It was time for training, and Sanosuke was training with the Knights and Pawns from both groups. It was then that he further split it into sparring sessions: Sylvia vs Saeko, Lisa vs Rei, and Cule vs Iria. Currently Sanosuke was sparring with Keisuke, the last person on his list.

Sanosuke would have a 15-minute sparring session with each person with him to help gauge his or her abilities one by one, so he began with Sylvia. It was similar to their previous sparring sessions except that now that she was a devil and a Knight, her speed had boosted dramatically, keeping him on the defense with nearly no chance of attacking. Sylvia always seemed to rush her attacks, trying to end it with a decisive blow. That would be her main problem, giving it her all in every strike would only tire her out.

It was after Sylvia that he would spar against Lisa. Lisa used a fiery scythe as her weapon, matching that of her red hair. She was quick, similar Sylvia in the idea of giving everything to each attack. Her skills with the scythe were not to be underestimated as well.

Cule was an interesting one as she had used a gladius as her weapon, but her attack power, compared to the rest, was relatively weak. But she made up for it with the use of Ice Magic in which she had used her sword as a medium and her timing of attacks. A former magician, perhaps? It would seem to make sense. Her sense of nobility would seem to have come from a long line of magicians.

Iria, like him and Keisuke, uses Sacred Gear. Her sacred gear was in a form of a falchion with a purple gem on the hilt and it radiated with electricity. Her attacks were very forward. Her attack power exceeded the rest of the servants and with the lightning element added into the attacks, she would be regarded as a dangerous fighter. Maybe he would need to ask Azazel information regarding her Sacred Gear, he doubt that this is all to her Sacred Gear. Although he thought that, she focuses too much on attack power. If she were to go up against a technique type fighter like Sylvia or himself, she would be in trouble.

Rei uses a spear, more specifically a naginata, as her main weapon. She swift and agile with her movements, almost graceful, which certainly shows that she was skilled with the weapon. A soujutsu practitioner, he would suspect. She had the tendency to use wind magic to aid her in her attacks.

Saeko was similar to him. Like him, she grew up as a swordsman, trained by her parents. That much he could tell when he clashed swords with her, her execution, her technique, her strength are what she had attained through years of hard work. She was also skilled in battoujutsu, possibly as part of her family's style. He could not say much on what she could improve; all she needed was more battle experience.

And now he was testing Keisuke.

Currently Sanosuke only had his father's Kokusen out whilst Keisuke had both of his Soul Breaker Spears out. Both charged forward, sword and spear met at the first clash with Sanosuke backing away from the slash of the second spear. Sanosuke came back with another slash that was blocked by one of Keisuke's spear. Keisuke swung his other but Sanosuke simply grabbed hold of the said spear before Keisuke could gather enough momentum. Sanosuke then kicked Keisuke in the chest and back flipped away at a safe distance.

Keisuke held his chest shortly because of the pain. He was also huffing and puffing from fighting 6 other people earlier.

Sanosuke eyed the spears that Keisuke held. 'That spear is said to be able cancel out magic. Is it just limited to demonic powers and human magic?' Sanosuke thought to himself. Might as well try.

Light enveloped his blade with light and with a quick swing of his sword, a wave of light made its way towards Keisuke who blocked the attack with his left spear.

"Hey that was dangerous!" Keisuke exclaimed.

Sanosuke stood there for a while as if in thought. From where Keisuke was, it looked Sanosuke smirked as if he knew that was going to happen.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to test something." Sanosuke bowed. Then Sanosuke stabbed his katana to the ground. Keisuke was confused about what he was going to do. Sanosuke then summoned two black and white falchions, White Black. "Ready?" he asked.

"Whenever you are!" Keisuke replied as he took a stance.

Both would clash weapons again, this time it was proven to be more difficult for Keisuke since Sanosuke decided to dual-wield. Sanosuke went onto the offensive and it proved to Keisuke that he needed be quicker on the defensive. After blocking the many strikes Sanosuke gave, the grip that Keisuke had on his spears began to loosen. With a final double slash, both spears were sent flying away.

Keisuke cursed. When he saw the tip of the black sword pointed at him, he quickly gathered the black light around him to create a spear of black light in his hands.

He pushed the black falchion away and tried stab Sanosuke in the head. Sanosuke pushed the blade away with his white falchion. He went with an upward slash with the black sword but Keisuke swung the bottom end of the spear, making the white blade narrowly miss him as he spun. Both Keisuke and Sanosuke found themselves shoulder to shoulder. Both jumped away before facing each other.

'So to be able to gather that black light and used it to create tangible weapons, it is a lot similar to the Angels' own light weapons.' Sanosuke thought to himself as he observed the weapon in Keisuke's hand.

White Black disappeared from his hands before he said. "The House of Ose really does have a powerful ability." He had heard that the members of the House of Ose, a household that lost its place in the 72 Pillars, were powerful within the Great War because of this ability. This made them a target by the Angels and Fallen Angels, and so they were exterminated within the war. Well thought to be, and they had to survive by having Half-Breeds within the family except for maybe one or two Pure-Devils. Even then, that was not enough to save it from its already ruined status. It was unexplained how they managed to attain such a skill, though. It was suppose to be an impossible idea to have light and demonic powers combine.

He looked to Keisuke and remembered the way he had moved with that black spear of light. 'He is certainly more skilled with a single spear than with two.' He thought. He held up his left hand, signaling the end of the spar. Keisuke acknowledged the end by discarding the spear of black light. As expected, Keisuke is an interesting young man.

They both heard sounds of explosions and both look to see Xarin and Kuzuha sparring. Xarin pointed his zanbatou down with the flat side of the blade against him as he blocked the attack of the huge hammer Kuzuha was using.

Keisuke froze when he saw the giant hammer. 'That's huge!' he thought. He certainly wouldn't want to get hit by that hammer in the near future.

-x-x-

"The flow of Demonic Magic is based on the user's imagination. You can use that imagination to create a variety of techniques." Kaoru explained.

It was demonic magic training time. Currently the Knights, Rooks and Pawns, except for Cule and Lisa, were in the room with their Queens, Kaoru and Miyu. Keisuke sighed, currently Christie, Ayaka, Cule and Lisa don't have to take this lesson since they are already skilled enough to use demonic magic. Shizuka would also teach this too but she was busy helping Serena and Rheena with their own strategy making.

Miyu then showed them with creating ice that tore through its plastic container. "When used properly, you can even change the state of an object or even its shape." Miyu then show the group by changing the shape of the ice into a rose. Some of the members of both Peerages clapped their hands in amazement.

Both Queens looked to each other before nodding and turned to the group. "Lets start by trying to concentrating the demonic energy to a ball in front of you." The knights and pawns started concentrating as soon as she said it.

Keisuke closed his eyes. To concentrate the demonic energy to a ball is something done by gathering energy and manipulating it to move towards the users desired point on their body. The properties, element, and power the energy had depended on two things: the user's imagination and the amount of energy they have in them. Since Keisuke was a half-demon of the Ose, he had some ability in this. Though he cannot seem to make simple illusions, change its elements into things like fire or ice, or change its properties yet, he was adept at making the energy transform into black light and change its shape. To him, it was similar to how he made that spear of black light. So simple enough, he made a ball of demonic light before him.

"Not bad, Keisuke-kun. Though, you seemed to make black light." Kaoru observed.

Keisuke only chuckled at this. It was mainly because of his affinity with it. A struggling Iria then called Kaoru.

Keisuke looked to his left to see how Sylvia was doing. She looked like she struggling with it as well.

"Sylvia-san, is everything alright?" Miyu asked her.

Sylvia kept on concentrating. "Everything's fine, I'm just trying to concentrate."

Miyu nodded before she noticed Kuzuha made one before it disperse. She decided to tell Sylvia that she will be around to help her if she needed it before she went to Kuzuha.

Sylvia slowly breathed out and closed her eyes. She tried to imagine the ball of energy before her but as she expected, nothing happened. What was she doing wrong though?

"You ok?" she heard before she saw Keisuke coming to her. "It must be hard trying to imagine the flow of demonic energy, huh?"

Sylvia nodded. It was hard, especially since she came from the Church, magic was not taught very well there unless you are gifted.

"I'll help you." Keisuke told before he walked up to her. "First close your eyes. Concentrate. And clear your mind of anything unnecessary. All you need is the shape and where you want it to be." He explained as he held up her arm and stood closely to her.

She did exactly as he said. She closed her eyes, and had gotten rid of anything unnecessary in her mind.

"My sister told me once that you need to feel the flow of demonic energy in you." Keisuke explained. "So concentrate and try to feel the demonic energy."

She followed everything he said again. Feel the flow of energy. Feel the flow of energy. Feel the flow of energy. She thought to herself.

When she opened her opened her eyes, she saw a small blue ball of energy hovering over her palms.

"Good work," Keisuke said.

Sylvia smiled at the small ball of demonic energy before she turned to Keisuke. Sylvia noticed how close he was to her and began blushing intensely.

Keisuke noticed Sylvia's red face. "What's wrong?" Keisuke asked.

Sylvia shook her head. "No, nothing!" She looked away shyly.

-x-x-

"Listen up! When fighting against your enemy, you need two things!" Xarin shouted before he held up his hand with the index finger up. "One: Keep your guard up and aim for the enemy's centre of gravity!" he brought up his middle finger. "and Two: Put your heart and soul into your attacks! It doesn't have to be everything you got but as long you put some guts behind it, you will not come short!"

"Isn't that three things?" Keisuke muttered under his breathe.

Currently it was Keisuke, Rei, Lisa, Iria, Cule and Kuzuha taking this lesson. Sylvia and Saeko were both training with Sanosuke. Maybe it was for the best as they are both Knights. Kuzuha is with them since she herself was a Rook, the only Rook of Rheena Seere.

"We will be testing your hand-to-hand combat. For this exercise, Pawns are allowed to promote to Rook so that it wouldn't be unfair." Xarin explained. "Kuzuha-chan packs quite a punch and I don't think some of you would get off easy without the rook's defensive abilities."

After Xarin told them what to do, they broke off into pairs. Keisuke had the unfortunate luck to face Kuzuha. Keisuke tried his best to block the first attack but Kuzuha grabbed onto his arm and threw him over. Keisuke managed to land safely whilst drifting through the dirt. He looked up to see Kuzuha coming in with a punch to his face but Keisuke grabbed the punch and grabbed her clothes. He was about to throw her but she retaliated by grasping his wrist and collar and both were locked in a battle for supremacy. Keisuke has got to admit though, despite being the smaller of the two, Kuzuha had a lot of power in her, more than his when he is in Rook mode. Keisuke then moved his right leg to the inside of her left leg and used it to trip the young girl over. Kuzuha was quick though, when she landed, she quickly placed her feet against Keisuke's chest. She kicked forward, sending the silver haired pawn away in front of her. Keisuke landed on his two feet.

Xarin who had been watching the fight and was surprised at how Keisuke was holding up against Kuzuha. "I guess Kuzuha is better when she uses her hammer." Xarin observed. "I permit you two to use your weapons." Xarin said with Kuzuha summoning a magic circle that teleported her giant war hammer to her side.

Keisuke paled when he saw the oversized hammer. "Give me a break! Xarin-sensei!" Kuzuha brought down the hammer on to Keisuke, who reacted by creating a shield of black light.

-x-x-

Whilst everyone else was busy training, Serena and Rheena took this moment to watch over their training. They were taking a small break from their studies of the Rating Games, going over the rules and possible strategies.

"I've got to admit Serena. You gather very interesting people around you." Rheena told her junior. Indeed they were interesting, they all had a wide array of skills that would consider them dangerous once they would reach their potential. The mercenary, Sanosuke Kiriya, was also an interesting being himself. A half-blooded Fallen Angel with the ability to use Holy Swords. Keisuke Ryuudou would also be considered an interesting man as well. A half-blooded Devil of the House of Ose and can cancel out magic. She had could already tell that it was fate that brought these people together.

She was mainly watching how he was using his Power of Black Light to create a shield to block against Kuzuha's hammer. Since both were now Rooks, the shockwave of the attack created a crater that had them in the middle. Keisuke pushed the hammer off him.

"The person who decided to let you have that hammer is crazy!" Keisuke roared before he went on to the attack with one of his Soul Breaker Spears.

"That is very kind of you to say that. I am really lucky to have them." Serena thanked her senior before she looked at Sanosuke who was taking on both Sylvia and Saeko at the same time.

Sanosuke held both the Kokusen and the Scarlet Blaze in his hands. He saw that Saeko was coming from the right and Sylvia charging in from the left. When Saeko arrived, Sanosuke parried the first slash before locking blades with her. He looked to his left to see Sylvia ready to thrust her weapon at him. He used the Scarlet Blaze to push her attack away from his body, though it did leave a shallow cut on the side of his stomach as he only barely parried the attack. Since Sanosuke was using one hand against Saeko, Saeko had a stronger push and was going to overpower Sanosuke if he hadn't tripped her over with his leg. He then elbowed Sylvia in the stomach. Sanosuke got around Sylvia and pushed her towards Saeko, nearly making the young blonde fall over if she hadn't regained her balance in time.

"What is important in battles like these is that when you will find yourself fighting against strong opponents, one you cannot take down on your own, you need to work together to defeat them. Teamwork is the key to Rating Games." He told the two. The two girls went back to attack him again.

"You seem uneasy." Rheena observed.

Serena looked to Rheena surprised before she shook her head. "No." she tried denying her worry.

-x-x-

The servants decided to make use of the built-in hot springs. On the girls said, the 14 nude female devils sat in the large pool filled with hot water, trying to relax the muscles from a long hard day of training.

Serena though couldn't help but think about the future battle. She was scared though. She doesn't know whether she had the strength to face up against her own sister. She had hoped that her servants would be strong enough against her sister's servants in time. She suddenly heard a loud voice.

"Hey?! Shizuka-sensei?! When did your boobs get this huge?!"

Shizuka looked around to see Christie facing her. "What is it, Christie-chan? Could it be you're jealous?" Shizuka asked cheekily.

"Of course!" Christie declared as she began rubbing Shizuka's chest. "I am a succubus but I could not grow my babies like yours! How did you manage to get them this big?!" she pouted.

Shizuka could only giggle as she said. "It's a secret." She grinned. Christie was about to make a retort before she heard Ayaka say something.

"Christie-senpai, please refrain yourself from…um…you…know…that," Ayaka tried to say but she couldn't help but blush from what Christie was doing.

Ayaka wanted to say more but before she could even do that, she whelped at the group of her small bosom from behind. She looked around to see Iria holding on to her. "What's wrong, Ayaka-chan?" Iria asked she giggled. "As expected of a small cup, you can't feel anything!" she said before a fist drilled onto her head. Iria looked up as she rubbed her head with one hand.

Lisa looked incredibly angry at her friend's stupidity. "What are you doing, you weirdo? Stop bullying Ayaka-san! You cow!" she growled.

"What was that, flame head?!" Iria roared at Lisa after releasing Ayaka.

"Its just as I said, shocker!" Lisa roared back. A fight broke out between the two girls.

"Now, now…Please stop fighting please?" Rheena asked the two.

"As expected, these girls might one day kill themselves…" Sylvia whispered as her sweat dropped whilst watching the scene.

Serena then noticed Kaoru, Kuzuha, Cule and Miyu in one corner having a conversation.

"Miyu-senpai, don't they look bigger now?" Kuzuha asked her queen.

Cule looked surprised as she asked, "Really?!"

"Yeah…" Miyu sighed before she told her first year juniors. "My current bras are getting a bit small so I have to buy a new one. The problem is that, they can be quite pricy." She admitted.

"If you'd like, I know a good shop in town where they sell at a discount. We can go there before the games if you want." Kaoru suggested.

Miyu smiled before she grabbed Kaoru's hands. "Thank you, Kaoru-san! Please lead the way!" she said gratefully.

The girls never realized how loud they were as the sound passed through the walls into the boys side where Keisuke and Xarin were sitting in the hot pool.

"You're too noisy!" Keisuke was close to shouting, as he was clearly annoyed, though he was blushing like crazy.

"What's wrong, Keisuke? You getting flustered." Xarin grinned.

"I'm not!"

"Could it be that since the girls are also taking a bath in the hot springs, you couldn't help but think of naughty things? Keisuke, you are sure growing up!" the giant rook joked at his fellow servant and student's behavior.

"Stop with your bullying, Xarin-sensei!" Keisuke roared.

Xarin giggled as he patted Keisuke's back hard without realizing it, Keisuke was doing all he can to stop himself from flying forward. "Its fine anyway. Since you are a man, I can accept such behavior. Plus, on the other side is the love of my life, Shizuka-sensei!" his voice sound higher than usual after he clasped his hands. "Oh! Why must you be so cruel to me, Maoh-samas?"

"Xarin-sensei…Not you too…" Keisuke's sweat dropped. Shizuka was a really popular person in school. A hot nurse with an incredible body, the idea alone was a pure source of everyman's fantasy.

Sanosuke walked into the hot springs with nothing but a towel on. He had already washed himself before coming in, so he walked into the large pool.

"Yo, Mr. Swordsman." Xarin greeted. He was done with the hot springs, so he decided to have an early night.

"Hello, Xarin-sensei." Sanosuke greeted back.

Keisuke looked up to see Sanosuke sitting across from him. It was then he had noticed the black tattoos that covered his upper body. "I would not have imagined you to be the tattoo-loving type. Those are very interesting tattoos though. Do they mean anything?" he asked.

Sanosuke wondered what he had meant before he looked down and realized that he was talking about the seal. "I've had these for as long as I could remember." He told Keisuke. "Though my father said differently, to me it is a reminder of what I can be. It is proof of my potential." He explained vaguely, but he looked depressed about it. He then remembered something. "Which reminds me, remember what you first told me about your Sacred Gear?" he asked Keisuke.

"What?" Keisuke was surprised

"'It allows me to cut the flow of magic energy in my opponents and cancel magic,' if I remember correctly," Sanosuke quoted.

"That's where you're wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it doesn't cut the flow of magic energy or cancel magic. It actually steals magic from your opponents, through each slash at either the opponent himself or his spells. So in other words, inside the spears is the magical energy that you stole from your enemy." Sanosuke explained.

So his spears actually steal magical energy then. But what would the stolen magical energy be used for though?

"It is a trait gained from half of the soul of the dragon that was sealed into the Sacred Gear, Magic Dragon, Zirnitra, also known as the Silver Dragon Lord." Sanosuke continued his explanation before he looked up in amazement. "To think that the Silver Dragon Lord was also sealed inside the Sacred Gears, looks like it wasn't just the Dragon King Vritra and Two Heavenly Dragons that were sealed into the Sacred Gears."

"Dragon Lord?" Keisuke said to him as he took a look at his right hand. Was something that amazing inside him? He thought to himself. It did seem farfetched that something that great would be inside him.

"So I guess you didn't know that your Sacred Gear was a Dragon-Type. If you don't believe me, it can't be helped." With a flick of the wrist, a large red edged zweihander appeared beside him.

"Hey, why did you take out your sword?!" Keisuke panicked as he leaned away from the sword.

Sanosuke took the sword in his hands before he explained. "This is Dragon Hunter, my dragon slayer holy sword. As its name would suggest, it is effective against Dragons and Dragon-Type Sacred Gear Users. Do you feel a malicious aura other than its Holy aura directed at you?"

Keisuke nodded.

Sanosuke nodded before he said, "Then its settled." He dispelled the sword away.

Keisuke then realized something, so he asked Sanosuke. "How did you know about my Sacred Gear?"

"I just happened to know someone who works in researching Sacred Gears since he is a Sacred Gear maniac. As a favour, he sent me data on all the Sacred Gears I've encountered recently." Sanosuke answered. The man he knew was Azazel. After doing the job Azazel gave him regarding Saraune, part of the agreement was information about Sacred Gears along with the money. He wanted information about Sacred Gears for two reasons:

1) He wanted to be able to create the correct countermeasures if he found himself against Sacred Gear users.

2) He too had an interest in Sacred Gears, though not as obsessed as Azazel's

"Encountered recently…" Keisuke gave those words some thought before he realized. "Then Saya's Sacred Gear?"

Sanosuke nodded, "I did. It is a Sacred Gear known as Blooming Gate. It is mainly a defensive Sacred Gear that the user could control with their mind." He explained to him before he offered. "If you want, I can give you the file later, I've already read through it."

"Thanks!" Keisuke nodded.

-x-x-

Keisuke laid on his bed in the brightly lite room. He looked up at the lamp above him before he blocked the light shining at his eyes with his hand. Did he really have something that great inside him? A Dragon Lord? It did seem a bit far-fetched, even if he did have one half of its Soul.

But still a Dragon Lord? If he remembered right, the Dragon Lords were five ultimate-class dragons that were said to be stronger than the Dragon Kings, matching those of the Evil Dragons. That being said, he heard they were sealed into Sacred Gears due to their dangerous power. Inside him was half of the Silver Dragon Lord, the Magic Dragon, Zirnitra. If that was the case, was the reason he had never heard him speak was because the soul was incomplete? It does make sense, though.

The other Dragon Lords were the Mirror Dragon Saltire, Horned Dragon Sirrush, Rainbow Dragon Galeru and Raging Dragon Vasuki. Each of them was a force to be reckoned with, but they were said to be always fighting amongst one another due to their differences and they cause destruction everywhere. He then wondered what kind people the other users could be. Are they friendly? Are they completely ignorant of the Sacred Gear inside them?

He sat up and looked to the file beside him. It was the file that Sanosuke had given him before. It had information regarding Saya's Sacred Gear, dubbed Blooming Gate. As he read through the file, Keisuke couldn't help but feel impressed by this man, Sanosuke's friend. He researched this Sacred Gear to a great detail.

A defensive-type Sacred Gear.

That was the true nature of Blooming Gate. Keisuke couldn't help but smile. The Sacred Gear really did suit her.

-x-x-

After a few days of training, the devils have begun to take shape. Though some gaps were evidently present in their styles, they should be able to hold up on their own unless the enemy is strong. He would expect that from Dina Asmoday's servants and Rein Orobas's servants if the things Rheena and Serena told him were true.

As for him, needed to get stronger as well. With this weird terrorist organization slowly crawling its way to the surface. He will no doubt have a lot of work for him to do and fight people stronger than the ones he fought before. He would need to draw out more power from before, from both his Blade Blacksmith and from himself. Maybe going back to basics will help him? After all, he probably needs to solidify the foundations of his swordplay. Anything was better than that. He doesn't want to use something like that if he could but he knew himself, he will be stronger with it. He used it before because he made a promise to live.

For now, he would work on his basics. He took hold of his katana and walked out the door. When he walked into the woods, he unsheathed his katana and pointed the blade up. He raised his sword high before slashing downwards. He repeated the process again and again. He told himself that he would practice this and many other techniques first for the first hour and the second hour would be with the Blade Blacksmith and the many possibilities he could do with it.

-x-x-

Serena quickly rose up from her bed. She was panting heavily. A nightmare? She thought to herself, but…

"Was it a dream?" Serena thought, was it just a dream or was some kind of premonition? The vision of her eventual defeat? No! She mustn't be so negative! If she were, the Peerage would fall apart! She must put faith in her abilities and her Peerage. She just needs a glass of water, maybe that would set her mind at ease. She did not want to loose. She told herself that, and that's why she worked very hard. Her family expected her to be a high ranked player in the Rating Games

As she walked down stairs, she heard the main door closed shut. She looked to see Sanosuke, walking towards the stairs, fully clothed, sword by the waist. Come to think of it she did caught sight of Sanosuke leaving the house a few nights ago. 'He must've been training,' she thought.

"Sanosuke-san?" she called quietly.

Sanosuke looked up when he heard his name and saw Serena waiting by the stairs. Sanosuke hid his left arm behind his back.

"Serena-san, you couldn't sleep?" Sanosuke greeted back before asking.

"More like a bad nightmare woke me up." Serena smiled lightly, trying to hide her worry. "I was about to go out for a short walk. If you don't mind, would you like to accompany me?" she asked.

"Sure." He smiled.

The two walked outside to the garden area that was lite up. When they found a bench, Serena sat down while Sanosuke stood up in front of her.

"To be honest, I am a bit worried about the Rating Game. We are only a few days away. And I am not sure if we are able to win against my sister and her Peerage." She began saying. "And I've been having nightmares about it, recently."

"So they are really that strong?" Sanosuke asked. She must be getting really nervous about this.

Serena nodded. "My sister is known for her ability to predict the flow of the battle and create the appropriate counter strategies, the 'Black-Haired Tactical Beauty. She is said to be a rising genius that can compete with mid-level Rating Games participants." She explained to Sanosuke. "It is also not just that, her servants are also quite strong. I am just scared my servants are gonna get hurt badly by them."

'A seemingly overwhelming foe,' Sanosuke thought to himself. She just needed confidence in herself, he had guessed.

"I'm sorry, for unloading all of this on to you. Its just I can't bottle this up any longer."

"Its going to be fine," that caught Serena by surprise. "If its Serena-san, I am sure that you would do great. After all the rest of the Peerage and Sylvie believe in you."

"But if I screw up…" she said quietly.

Sanosuke just shrugged, "If you do, then it can't be helped. They will not blame it on you. Either way, your servants are also strong on their own accord." He smiled at her.

He's right, though. She didn't really believe in her servants' strength. Even Rheena admitted that her servants were strong, so why didn't she believe in their strength too? She felt stupid by the

"Thanks!" she said smiling. Sanosuke blushed at the sudden smile.

"By the way, what do you have hiding behind your back?" Serena questioned.

"Nothing important. Don't worry about it."

"Oh…then why are you hiding it?" Serena moved her hand to the arm as she moved from the bench. Sanosuke moved his left side of his body away from her but she was persistent and once she grabbed his arm, she felt something wet covering her palm. She pulled out to see her palm covered by a red substance. "Blood?" she was shocked and pulled Sanosuke's arm out to reveal a huge cut that ran down his forearm. The cut itself seemed shallow though. "What happened? Was this during training?" she questioned him, her voice filled with worry.

He chuckled lightly as he rubbed his head with his right hand, "I guess I went overboard with the training. I was going to fix it up after this."

Serena pouted. "You should have just told me, you idiot."

"No, you don't have to worry about this." He continued his light chuckling. Serena then lead him to the bench before she crouched before him.

"I want to! Please hold still." Her right hand held onto his left hand whilst she placed her left hand over the wound. Demonic magic radiated from the palm of her left hand.

Sanosuke was surprised by the sudden flow of Demonic Magic flowing into him, though he felt slight aches from the flow of Demonic Magic into the wound.

"I'm trying to close the wound as much as I can with my magic. It's a technique used over the centuries, but it's not as effective as Sacred Gears with a full healing capability." She explained.

So that's what she was doing. Sanosuke never had much understanding of magic, much less demon magic. So he had no choice but to trust her words.

"You weren't expecting that, weren't you? Originally the best way was supposed to be done by having as much skin-to-skin contact as possible. But I don't think I like that and plus you're not a member of the household, so its capabilities are very limited." She smiled.

Sanosuke's cheeks couldn't contain the blushing that was appearing. He wasn't just blushing because of the image of a skin-to-skin contact would be like appearing in his mind but also because her smile. For some reason, that smile made him felt relaxed. He felt attracted to it.

'Such an honest smile,' Sanosuke thought.

A small silence around the two as they both were thinking of what to say to each other.

From behind a wall listening into their conversation, Rheena leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. "Serena…could it be you're…" she whispered to herself. What Rheena didn't realize was that Sanosuke felt her presence nearby.

"I'm sorry," she told him and he turned his attention back to her.

"For what?" he asked, wondering what she meant.

"For suspecting you at first. When we first met, we were all worried that you might kill us." Serena said honestly. She had finished up with the minimal healing procedure and sat next to him.

"Don't worry, who else wouldn't feel like that if they met someone with a connection to the Angels or Fallen Angels?" Sanosuke told her honestly. It was true after all. Angels and Fallen Angels are the sworn enemies of the Devils. The huge cut in his left forearm had generally closed up. It looked like it could still bleed if Sanosuke doesn't swing it too much in the next few hours. A perk of being half-human is the faster healing time than normal humans.

"But still, thanks to you, we saved a good friend of ours and we gained another!" Serena smiled at him. Suddenly she blushed before she put her head onto his shoulder.

"Hey…" said Sanosuke, surprised by the action.

"Sorry, I don't know why but I just wanted to do this. Would you let me stay like this for a while?" she asked.

Sanosuke sighed at both the answer and the question she gave. There was nothing much he could and so both of them stayed like that for a while.

The pair did not realize that they were still holding hands.

-x-x-

Keisuke yawned. It's been a tiring first four days and thanks to the adrenaline pumped from those four days of training, he couldn't sleep.

The first four days had been painful. It was because of how Sanosuke, Miyu, Kaoru and Xarin had been pushing the two groups. After the spars with different people was a small magic training session by Sanosuke and Miyu who wanted Keisuke to work on his power of black light. They worked as a team, put through situations that you might find yourself in within the Rating Games. It wasn't just the Pawns and the Knights that took part in it, even the Rooks and Bishops joined them to make it as realistic as possible. It was usually Serena's servants against Rheena's servants.

Well he will forget about it for now, he just needed to have a nice quick shower before anything else happens. With his eyes half-closed, he opened the door to the shower. When he fully opened his eyes, he jumped in shock of the sight of a wet Sylvia barely covering her important parts. She also was shocked at the sudden intrusion in her and began blushing to the point that her face was as red as a tomato.

"Hi, Sylvia…" Keisuke said as he retreated slowly from the scene, eyes closed. 'WHY ME?!' Keisuke thought to himself, the voice inside his head sounded angry. He was about to closed the door to the shower room once he was out of the room but then he heard…

"You pervert!" Sylvia screamed before she slapped him so hard, it sent him spinning violently to the wall behind him.

-x-x-

The final day of training camp began with Sanosuke teaching the Knights and Pawns again. All of them had their weapons out for training.

"We only have another two days before both of your Rating Games begin." Sanosuke told the group. Today he is going to see how much they have improved.

As Sanosuke kept on talking to the group, Keisuke looked to Sylvia. When she noticed him looking at her way, she angrily looked away. Keisuke sighed in response. Since the incident in the shower, she hasn't spoken to him except when necessary during strategy meetings with Christie and Xarin during those team exercises.

"Since this is final session I have with you guys, I would to start by training Keisuke first. The rest of you will pair off and spar with each other." He heard Sanosuke say. He jumped at the call of his name.

"Me?" Keisuke pointed at himself, he usually would be last on Sanosuke's list.

"Its better if I start with you today," Sanosuke told him. Keisuke didn't really understand the meaning of it though.

When the group dispersed, Keisuke stood before Sanosuke with his Soul Breaker Spears. The two clashed blades again and again.

As they continued sparring, Sanosuke then told him, "Remember Keisuke, Sacred Gears are things which are strongly affected by the feelings of its' user. He blocked as overhead slash. "The stronger you feel, the more the Sacred Gear will react to you feelings." He pushed the spear off before blocking the next spear. He kicked Keisuke in the chest.

"But what is it do you really want to wish for now?" Sanosuke said after he lowered his blade.

"What do you mean?" Keisuke asked Sanosuke.

Sanosuke sheathed his sword. He then asked Keisuke. "Right now, what's so important to you that you're willing to put everything on the line? What is it that drives you? Think about that and the Sacred Gear will react to the desires in your heart."

The Sacred Gear would reacts to the desire of the user? The thing that drives him forward…Keisuke gave it some thought before he realised. What Keisuke wanted was to protect his honour and pride as a member of Serena Asmoday's Peerage. To honour the vow he made with Serena and Iris when they took him in, the strength to protect the people around him, the strength to protect Saya. In order to do that, he needed to get stronger. If the Sacred Gear will react to that then…

"If you can hear me, then react to my feelings! Soul Breaker!" A bright silvery light shone from the two spears. A sudden force took over the bottom end of both spears as they were drawn to each other. When the two ends connected the bright light flashed before it died out. All that was left was a single polearm left in Keisuke's hand. It was long, more almost twice as long as Keisuke. In between the two spears was a purple gem that had a black, almost draconic eye. "What's this?" Keisuke asked Sanosuke as he inspected the weapon.

"That is the Second Liberation. Soul Breaker Spears Ravage, the true form of Soul Breaker Spears." Sanosuke told him.

-x-End-x-

Next chapter is going to be a Character Sheet for Rheena Seere's Peerage so that you can understand what kind of people they are. Please Review.