Chapter 3; Introductions and sparring
The group introduces themselves. The blonde guy is named Kiba. He's a calm, chill guy on the outside, but I can sense something on the inside. Pain and anger, good motivators but dangerous to oneself. He's a knight, specializing in speed when he fights. Much like a blinker back home.
The white haired girl is quite stoic and a bit rude, but I feel like it's just a facade to hide some form of deep seated trauma. Not the healthiest choice, but healthier than my route of alcoholism I suppose. She's a rook, specializing in strength and defense, standard melee fighter, She's also a nekomata, some form of cat demon, and uses her magic to further fortify herself. Not a bad strategy. Koneko is her name.
The black haired girl is Akeno, Rias' queen. She has a well rounded set of stats, and is good with lightning magic. Combat mage. Much like Annie, but without the fire usage.
The blonde girl is Asia, a bishop who has good magic usage. She's a standard healer, nothing really impressive. She can't drain the life force of foes, though.
The brown haired guy is Issei, and he's by far the most interesting. He's a pawn, all eight of them, and is a very all around piece, with the ability to change specialization whenever he's in enemy territory. He also hosts something called a 'Sacred Gear' , his being the 'Boosted Gear'. That's what his gauntlet is. It's a living dragon, named Ddraig. The Red Dragon of Domination. Supposedly a force that could've destroyed the world at its strongest, impressive but not quite at my level. It doubles Issei's current power level every ten seconds, though his anger can increase the modifier and decrease the interval.
There's also a few new faces I didn't recognise from the last encounter. A chick with blue hair and a dash of green, the other night. She wields a powerful holy blade, Ex-durandal. A combination of Excalibur and Durandal. I wonder how it would've stacked against the Achillean blade, had I not broken it to get a drop of blood for my seals all those years ago. It definitely doesn't compare to my Blades of Light, though. Xenovia, they call her.
A slightly older woman, possibly in her twenties, by the name of Rossweisse takes the role of the other rook. She's an ex-valkerie and is very good with combat magic.
Finally, a much shorter blonde kid, a boy I think, named Gasper, the other bishop. He's a Dhampir, half vampire and half human, with the ability to freeze time around anything in his line of sight. He wears girls' clothes, which caused my earlier confusion, but I can't really judge. I wear kilts to honour my Irish-Scottish heritage. They are quite comfortable and allow for a greater range of movement.
I shake hands and bow respectfully to everybody before standing in front of everybody.
"Rias, right? Seeing as everybody else has their powers modeled after chess pieces, I think it's safe to assume you're the king. It's the only piece remaining and you're the leader."
She nods, "you would be correct. As the king, I am the leader of the peerage. In rating games, my capture would result in a loss."
"Rating games? Care to explain?"
"Rating games are friendly competitions in the underworld, sporting events where two opposing peerages battle it out until only one remains. They're treated similarly to how humans treat their sports."
I nod, smiling "Sounds fun, perhaps I can participate in one with you folks. A way to solidify our alliance"
Rias grins slightly, "That might be possible to arrange, if I pull some strings."
I look over all of them, pulling a solid green pill capsule out of my pocket "I think we should do a quick sparring session. I need to see where all of you are in terms of power and skill, if you wouldn't mind."
Issei eyes the capsule in my hand curiously, "What's that for? You on some kind of medication?"
"No, it's my training room" I crack the capsule open and reveal a portal looking in on a grey void. "It's a magical environment, it can become whatever I wish and any damage taken in there will be negated once we leave. You could die in there and come out alive, though you'll probably have one hell of a headache. Who wants to have a go at me?" I lead Rias' peerage through the portal and the grey void transforms into an Irish countryside with a large manor on a hill. My vision blurs and my breathing gets heavy, I sit down.
Images flash through my mind. My fifth birthday, eating with my parents and younger sister. Those, creatures invading my home, killing them. My sister dying in my arms. My anger, killing the entire clan. Hundreds of those monsters vaporized by my rage, the manor destroyed. This place is gone now, you destroyed it.
The environment changes to reflect my thoughts, the manor explodes in a cloud of black fire, leaving a crater the size of a highschool. The ruins of the house disappear, and the crater fills with clear water. Lake Ash, all the remains of my home.
I stand up and brush myself off, turning away from the lake. "My childood home," I explain to the others before they can ask, "The explosion that destroyed the house was me, I was five. My family was killed by demons, I killed the entire clan in my rage and destroyed my home in the process.."
Issei puts a hand on my shoulder, "That's… rough."
I shrug him off, "There's no point in regretting what's already said and done." I shake my head and address the other's. "Who's first? I need to clear my head."
Kiba steps forward and summons his sword, a concerned frown on his face. "I'll go first, but are you sure about this?"
I grab the skull studs on my belt, extending them into Mystical Silver xiphoses. "Yeah, I'm sure. Don't hold back, I can more than keep up. And don't worry about getting injured, you'll be fine once we leave."
He nods and holds his sword in a Strongpoint stance, standard defense. I put my swords together, merging them into a bastard sword. I point my sword at the ground, slightly slackening my arms and taking up an alber guard to bait him in.
He shuffles forward cautiously and thrusts forward. Perfect I flash a grin and bat his sword away, reposting quickly with a thrust of my own. He jumps back and raises an arm, "Swordbirth!" He clenches his fist and dozens of swords materialise above my head, dropping down to stab me.
I let them hit, shattering the blades, and kick a few of the handles in his direction so he teleports away. I visualize a counter in my head, labelling the amount of power I'm using. The counter slowly ticks upwards towards one percent, currently at 0.14%.
I turn as he reappears behind me and catch his blade with my swords crossguard, shoving him back. "Not bad, a good diversion."
I change into wrath guard, putting all my weight into my right leg in the back and holding my arms back to point my sword over my shoulder.
Kiba grins at me and goes back into Strongpoint, "You're good with a blade."
"I've been training since I was three. Ready to finish this?"
Kiba nods and approaches me, I feint at his head and let him block it, "Mistake." I grin darkly.
I kick him fiercely in the balls, causing an intense pain and breaking his guard. I stab him through the chest as he falls to his knees.
"Don't worry, you'll wake up in a few minutes." I withdraw my blade from his body and carry him to Asia. "Watch over him, he'll be okay."
Xenovia glares at me and summons her Ex-durandall, "That was a horribly cheap tactic. What kind of warrior are you?"
I laugh and seperate my blades, putting them back on my belt in stud form. "A well trained and well learned one. A swordmaster from my world back in the fourteenth century, Fiore de'i Liberi, wrote 'I fiercely kick you in the balls, and I do it to inflict pain and to make you lose your cover'. In other words, it's a genuine technique, kicking a male opponent in the nuts to break their guard."
Koneko steps forward "I'll go next, I suppose." She sighs and gets into a standard guard position.
I grin, "Alright, but how about a change of scenery?" I hold out my hand and the area changes, putting me and Koneko in the middle of an oversized MMA octagon and putting the others in a spectator section. I change my outfit to be a bit tighter and more form fitting, and removing the hood from my jacket
"No holding back, let's see that magic" I crack my knuckles and roll my shoulders, deciding on Brute style for this one. Strength over speed, a combination of Muay Thai and Tiger style Kung Fu, with a bit of pro wrestling thrown in for stylistic effect.
Ears grow out of her head and two tails appear out of her back, she encases her fists in blue fire. I grin and rush at her immediately, leading off with a hook that leads into an elbow strike. She stumbles backwards and kicks at me. I grin and catch her foot, slamming her into the ground and kicking her in the side.
She coughs up some blood and grabs my leg, pulling me onto my back. She climbs onto my chest and hammers my nose with her fists. 0.17%
I stand up quickly, grabbing her legs and putting them on my shoulders before power bombing her into the ground. I lift her up by the collar and force her to her feet, punching her in the stomach. I hit her with rapid, powerful punches, elbows and knees until she falls to the ground.
She stands up weakly and kicks me in the chest. Grinning, I grapple her and hold her tightly against my chest.
"Not bad, I think you've earned the privilege of seeing a special move." 0.25%
My right eye flickers between its natural brown and an empty black void that matches the left. I jump ten metres in the air, still holding Koneko tightly, and spin around, "Inferior Corkscrew Slam" I turn upside down as we fall, still spinning, and slam the top of her head into the canvas. The octagon collapses and Koneko lays in a slightly crumpled heap, unconscious.
The scenery changes back to Lake Ash and I lay Koneko next to Kiba.
Issei steps forward, his gauntlet already on his arm, "My turn. Ready for some fun?"
I grin and hold out my hand, changing the scenery to a large gladiatorial arena. "Certainly, but let's kick things up a notch."
Pulling down the collar of my shirt, I reveal the seals on my left shoulder. A jar of blue ink appears in my hand and I dip my fingers in it before tracing over the X on the top. It disappears and the air around me shimmers. 1%
"This is my base form, with the perfection seal removed. I'm no longer limited to less than one percent. Let's see what you got."
Red armour surrounds Issei's body and a deep voice booms from his gauntlet, "Welsh Dragon, Balance Breaker!"
Issei points at me, "Let's do this"
He rushes at me quickly, punching me in the face hard enough to send me backwards. I wipe a small drop of blood from my nose and laugh, "Come on, hit me. You can do better than that."
Rias yells from the stands, "Issei, this is now enemy territory. You have permission to promote yourself."
I grin as Issei yells, "Alright, time for my special move. Illegal move Triaina. Welsh Draconic Knight!"
"Armour release, Change Star Sonic" Issei's armour thins out to the absolute minimum as he rushes at me with ridiculous speed, becoming more aerodynamic. "Welsh Draconic Rook!"
His armour becomes bulkier and heavier, but maintains the momentum of the knight form. "Change Solid Impact" Issei nails me with a heavy punch, launching me into the air.
"Welsh Blaster Bishop" The armour thins out again, forming a backpack and twin shoulder cannons. "Dragon Blaster!"
Issei's cannons fire, sending green energy beams that envelop me. My body tingles slightly and my counter rises rapidly.
The energy dissipates and I remain floating in the air, my nose bleeding rapidly. I put my hand to my nose and laugh maniacally, wiping the blood over my eye as it flows down my chin. 50%.
Black smoke flows from my body and my right eye becomes a black void to match the left. My voice distorts as I speak.
"Not bad, Issei, but now it's my turn." I rush down towards him faster than light and punch him in the chest, crumpling his armour.
He coughs up blood through his helmet, "Welsh Draconic Queen" His armour glows a bright red and changes again. I can sense his power level rising and raise my own to compensate. 60%
Issei grabs me and we fly hundreds of metres into the air, beating each other heavily. I grab his helmet and squeeze as hard as I can, cracking his helmet open and leaving his head exposed. His eyes widen in shock as wrap my arms around him, "Lightspeed Corkscrew Slam"
I spin around hundreds of times in the span of half a second before throwing him to the ground and following. He crashes hard, leaving a crater thirty thousand times the size of hiroshima, the other's fly into the distance unharmed.
I slam down on top of Issei, stomping his chest hard enough to shatter what remains of his armour, I grab his head in my hands and scream in his face.
"Die, you piece of shit!" His body turns to ash, leaving only his arm intact, the gauntlet cracked and smoking.
My right eye returns to normal and the smoke stops flowing from my body, my power level dropping quickly. The X returns to my shoulder. 0.01%
The scenery changes to a grey void, the rest of the peerage appearing beside me and the portal opening in front of us. I pick up Issei's arm, Rias carries Koneko and Xenovia slings Kiba over her shoulder. We all leave, returning to the ORC building, and put the remains on the ground. Koneko's limbs snap back into place and she opens her eyes, groaning.
The hole in Kiba's chest seals itself and he holds his head as is eyes snap open. "Fuck, that hurts."
Issei's gauntlet seals its cracks and stops smoking as his body reforms from the arm. I help him stand up and pat him on the back. "That was fun, you're pretty strong."
He grins at me and sits down on the ground. Asia uses her healing magic to soothe everybody's headaches and I pull a beer from my vault, twisting the cap off and drinking slightly.
Rias turns to me, "You really shouldn't be drinking on school grounds."
"Oh, be quiet. Let's go somewhere where I can drink, if that's such a problem."
She sighs and turns to address her peerage, "Alright, everybody. Guerrimo is coming with us to Issei's place. We need to unwind and get to know eachother a bit better for this alliance to work."
