The first month of training left the peerage broken and beaten but not defeated, as every day they got right back up and went at it with even more determination. They were growing in power, strength and stubbornness under the guidance of Medusa, Naima and Medusa's clanmates. The clan leader, the Spear Huntress, watched as Rias went up against Issei Hyoudou in another training session in hand to hand combat. The pair were rather fitting, as she watched. Rias's smaller height pressed against Issei's taller and more fit one, as he taught her how to lock an opponent's arm behind their back and twist just enough to cause maximum pain receptors to go off.
Of course, the boy was showing it on Rias's body, who was wincing from the demonstration but was clearly listening all the same. But as she continued to watch, it was all the more obvious that Rias kept clenching her fingers into a fist, like she was grabbing at something that wasn't there. Something that she had gripped for all her time living as the clan leader and immortal huntress that she was. Of course, she could be wrong but her gut feeling was telling her otherwise.
"Then to escape," Issei said, "Hook your foot around the back of your opponent's ankle then pull."
Rias followed his instructions and Issei was pulled off his feet, collapsing as his grip came undone. As the pair were panting from the ending of the training session, she made a noise that made both turn. She then walked up to Rias, putting a hand on her shoulder and leading her away to a denser part of the woods as the cool air blew against them.
"Your training goes well, young Gremory," The voice she picked gave her a soft Irish accent as she spoke in her native tongue while the mask translated to English, which the Devilress picked up easily, "but I have begun to notice some ticks in your style of combat. You want to hold something, with both your hands."
Rias flushed as Spear Huntress snorted, realizing she made a innuendo without meaning to but the young woman nodded, "when I was younger, I started playing around with a broom like it was a spear. I-It was rather fun then it became something I would use to calm my mind, something to think through things when I was too worked up."
Spear Huntress nods before a bright crimson spear appears in her right hand, the ornate teardrop shaped spear head glowing as dark shadows twisted around the speartip. Rias's eyes went wide as she looked from the spear to her and back again. She smirked before going into several very advanced Hunter spear katas, every slash and strike controlled and precise. Rias watched in open mouthed shock as the final Kata ended in a tree being completely obliterated.
"I have never trained more then one student in the advanced kata of my people," She said before looking at the young Devil as she watched the crimson haired girl's mind go to work trying to figure out what that meant, "He was the only one that died too young."
"Y-you're Scáthach," Rias gasped in shock as she looked at her, shaking a bit, "The Queen of Dún Scáith, the trainer of the Ulster hero, Cú Chulainn."
"Indeed, I am the same," she nods her head before holding out her spear to Rias, who looks confused, "and I think you would be the second student that would learn the feat of arms, also known as Gáe Bolg. If you become my student, you will be put to the test for twenty hours a day, only two hours more then Cú Chulainn did. In two months, you will have the first of the advanced katas learned and mastered. If you accept this, Rias Gremory, you will be the first I have accepted under my guidance to be a heroine much like Cú Chulainn."
Rias looked lost before she nodded her head, grabbing the shaft above the Huntress's hand.
Yuuto Kiba grunted within his heavy armor, looking at his Sensei before him as he pushed himself up into a defensive stand. For the past month, the Hound Huntress had pushed him from using only his speed and techniques into getting some muscle mass and strength. Not only that, she had caused him to focus on his sacred gear or the pair of them. Her hounds had discovered that he had a pair of sacred gears in his soul which were simply two sides of the same tool.
Sword Birth and Blade Blacksmith, the Holy and Demonic sword creation Sacred Gears.
Which simply had her tell him to will his gear into creating anything other than swords, something that had been very painful a week into the training had put him under. Slowly, very slowly, day by day, he began to change his gears. Soon, his swords went from swords to daggers to axes. From there, he started creating many other weapons other than swords. Soon, his ability went from weapons to armor along with his strength. The Hound Huntress wanted him to be as tough and hit as hard as Koneko before her training here, which he had originally thought was against what his piece was about until she put him in his place on what he was being.
"You are a Knight," She said, her English voice having an accent that he couldn't recognize as she pointed at him, "Knights wore armor that was heavy and forged to combat whatever the supernatural could throw at them. Many of those fantasy armors you find on the internet were actual armors worn by knights under various Kings. Very few ever wore anything light as that was the equivalent of wearing nothing, leaving you open for death. Those in those armor could fight at speeds you've already achieved before this training, that is what I am training you to be, Yuuto Kiba."
So, he trained to be one of those Knight of Old. He would be Rias's knight as he continued to train under the Hound Huntress. So, here he was, panting in his bulky armor that actually gave him some height. The armor was built like a dragon, reminiscent of Western Style Dragons in fact, as his helmet was shaped like a Dragon. The mouth opened as steam gushed out of it before he got up, looking at his Sensei as he growled. Flexing his armored fingers, he waited before summoning a massive claymore into his hand before swinging at her with a speed that belied his massive size.
She simply sidestepped as the ground exploded from the force of the blow, before she kicked the massive weapon out of his hand. The sword snapped in half as it was sent away as Kiba used his sacred gear to summon a spear, stabbing it towards her before slicing it across the air with a powerful swing. His Sensei jumped over the spear before her wrist blades cut through the shaft of the spear as though it was butter. With that, Kiba let go of the metal shaft before summoning a massive war axe as he changed at his Sensei.
Swing after swing, he attacked his Sensei before the Axe head was obliterated by the shoulder cannon. He dropped the ruined weapon before a massive spiked mace appeared as he slammed it into the ground with enough force that the ground erupted into a massive explosion, shaking the trees from how violent it was. As the smoke cleared, he looked up before being blown off his feet. His Sensei was on the handle of the massive mace was magic swirled from her palm before it vanished, stepping off the weapon as she growled in an amused way as she walked up to him
"I failed," Yuuto sighed, his voice a deeper darker vibrating growl compared to the soft spoken White Knight of Kuoh, "I'm sorry, Sensei."
"You did well but I forgot to teach you another aspect of the Knights of Old," She said as his armor vanished, leaving behind a battered and bruised Knight of Gremory, "They used Magic to help bolster their offensive and defensiveness. For the next two months, I will be pushing you in your knowledge of Magic used by these Knights so when those of Riser's peerage attack you, the Knight of Gremory will remind them why ancient Knights were so feared."
Koneko Toujou huffed as she was getting up from the ground alongside her fellow Rook, Rin Onigawara. In front of them, the thing known as the Feral Hunter hissed as its mandibles twitched. Its alien skull mask was tilted so it was looking down on them, causing Koneko to feel a rather deep anger boil before she pushed it down. The nekomata got up slowly alongside Rin as the pair got into a defensive stance.
"Enough," Feral growled, its mask's voice translator giving the Hunter an angry, almost primal sounding tone as he flicked his hand as though he was swatting a fly, "Get something to drink, Onigawara. I have to speak with Koneko."
Rin looked over at her fellow devil before bowing her head, turning and leaving the pair alone as Koneko panted, her body aching from the punishment of this day's unpredictable and brutal exercises. The first Rook of Gremory was sporting many ugly looking bruises and even a few cuts that had left her sweat stained sports shirt clinging against her body. With shaking knees, she looked up at the tall Hunter before her strength left her. Feral caught her before she could fully collapse, holding her up by her upper arm.
"You fight like you're trying to punch the pain away, little kitten of Gremory," He growled, making her hiss at him, "but I do not train you to hate me for making you use your natural gifts. No, anger at me is easy to deflect, easier if you try to use it to win. No, I have trained you as I have for the past two months as I was asked by your sister to do so before she too vanished to places unknown."
Koneko looked at her teacher in horror, weakly trying to escape his grasp, the fear of her insane sister rising up. The images of her sister coming again, rising like some long dead horror. But, Feral swiftly cut them down with a simple statement.
"For a stray, she seems to not have become a monster."
Koneko blinked, confusion filling her mind as she looked up at her teacher.
"For one that is supposedly a Stray," Feral continued, amusement coming from the mask, "She looks very much like a dark haired female human with feline ears and twin tails. For someone to avoid being a monster, they must either be powerful or have removed the bishop pieces."
Lifting his other hand, a pair of ashen black bishop chess pieces that were cracked and looked ready to fall apart.
"She simply used her abilities as they affect the soul to remove them from her body, but because of the changes she had undergone," Feral chuckled, "She is now a devil, not a stray. So, who is more foolish? From what I can see, she pretty much became your surrogate parent when your original parents were killed. Kuroka became another mother to you, so I guess this struck harder for you."
Nodding slowly, Koneko silently thought about what her teacher was saying before he said, "Now, I train you to use your Senjutsu so you can make your surrogate Mother and older sibling proud of your growth. Through this training, I get you to reach levels that will show that you are powerful, a warrior with every breath."
Koneko blinked before Rin returned with bottled water, who took the bottle of water and began to drink it.
Akeno Himejima grimaced as the Medusa tossed her back with a powerful magical attack that left her outfit torn apart and her massive breasts exposed. Wincing as she put an arm over her bust, Akeno slowly rose to a standing position as her body tried to protest this action. However, Medusa had other plans as her massive tail swiftly coiled around the Queen of Gremory before squeezing. She couldn't help but moan as her bones creaked, warning her of potential breaking but Medusa rolled her eyes at the sadistic/masochistic hybrid.
"Despite your personality shifts," The Greek Monster said, her scorpion tail tip sliding between Akeno's cleavage and gently poking the Queen's nose, "your training in magic has improved drastically. I would say that you actually now have a chance in fighting any competent apprentice level Magicians and incompetent Master Magicians."
Akeno pouted before grousing, "I could be better! Two months of physical and magical exercises got me this far, Sensei. I know I can do better than this, I know it."
"Indeed, Priestess of Lightning," Medusa leaned in as her rather beautiful face looked over a large bruise that was starting to turn a dark green on Akeno's cheek, "but again, you are also falling back onto your lightning when other magics and spells would do better. You can learn all the magic, techniques and powers to replicate with your demonic power you wish but when you fall back on only one, you become predictable."
Lowering her head, Akeno remembered the three hour battle that had occurred between her and Medusa. In those three hours, Medusa had put her all into battling against her and triumphed due to her falling back on the lightning that pulsed within her body. However, she had accidentally unleashed some Holy power upon Medusa without even realizing it before the serpent haired legend had finished off the battle.
"That ability," she hummed before looking over her face again, "yes, you are his daughter but he cannot teach you that skill."
Akeno wanted to be angry but that had been beaten out of her last month by Satanic and Medusa, it was an old wound that had been reopened but also starting to heal. Baraqiel had been one of her contacts, so Medusa had a very good idea on who the Fallen Angel Vice-Governor was. Akeno had to admit, her Father was avoiding her in return as he couldn't have returned any faster due to someone screwing up orders. That and he had put a massive bounty on the Himejima Clan for trying to assassinate his "little raven", as he had affectionately called her.
She had also learned the technique of "Holy Lightning" from the Vice-Governor and had been trying to teach Akeno but she had refused to listen. Now, Akeno had to admit that she was in the wrong and needed a swift kick to the backside to tell her so.
Not even Azula, master of Magics and Flames, could not get that through her stubborn thick skull.
"We now start again with teaching you Holy Lightning, Akeno," Medusa said before letting Akeno go from her tail's grip, "but first, get some clothing on."
"Yes, Sensei."
Mary Kikakujou grunted as the Satanic Hunter lifted the Holy Flame spell from around then, the Siren slowly rising to her feet as she felt her skin slowly start to rehydrate from the water being absorbed from the air. One of the quirks of the French Siren subspecies is that they had adapted to a more land based lifestyle, absorbing water from the air like a sponge. However, while that was a simple solution for their species, it didn't help that they dried out so quickly if no water was even close.
Satanic had been increasing her ability to retain her water for months, now reaching the end of the three month period. Besides the physical exertion was painful, even for someone that was built for the depths of the ocean that her kind could dive too. It helped that her kind had some relation to the tooth whales of Earth.
"You held that for fifteen minutes, good," The hunter growled, the maskless hunter spoke in accented English, "This will be thirty minutes for regular flames. You have done well in all your training, you have gotten faster and stronger. More intelligent in your combat abilities and gained more prowess in your skills."
Mary returned to her human skin, leaving her naked but the Hunter just tossed her a towel as it growled softly.
"Heal up from Asia Argento and take the next two days to heal and think back on what you were taught."
Tsukuyo Inaba meditated as Naima Ida watched her with her arms crossed over her large bosom, the short genius letting her mind become clear before she moved. Her body seemed to have vanished, appearing on the side of a tree before flipping away as she bounced from tree to tree. In her hand, her weapon slashing and cutting through the targets set up by her Sensei beforehand. Target after target, she could feel them like a radar or sonar. Her world had been echoes and irritation until they had unlocked her simple sacred gear, blindmans sights.
A simple sacred gear that gave her other modes of sight like echolocation, phased array radar and sonar along with other ways to view the world. With these new senses, she could now do things that would allow her to live a regular life. But her training had been even more hellish then the others due to the fact that she had to relearn how to actually move when her sacred gear awoke, it had been very migraine inducing for a month. The next two months were brutal training that pushed her to have similar attributes like the Knight and the Bishop, pushing her powers to be more telekinetic along with elemental. Many magics needed full visual sight to work, her sacred gear was not a bypass for her.
Naima had even pointed out that her training would have made her similar to the fictional Jedi Grand Master Yoda and the Jedi Master Tahl, one because of her short stature and the other because she had lost her sight on a mission.
It was rather interesting to be compared to those two but even now, she was starting to see why she was. Leaping, bounding and launching herself from tree to tree as she carved through the targets. Soon, she was having to dodge projectiles that were fired at various speeds from regular arrows to beams of energy that were faster then the high speed bullets. Soon, it was over and she landed softly on the ground before collapsing due to the exertion put on her body.
Naima came running up and helped her into a sitting position, "That was the final test, Inaba. You did the course perfectly, I'm very pleased you pushed yourself for this."
Inaba weakly nodded, no energy within her body as she smiled softly, "I-I'm glad I went through it, Sensei. Hopefully, I can help pull Rias from her ill fated contract.
"Yes," Naima nodded before lifting Inaba into her arms as she carried the small student back to the cabin that had just started to become home for everyone there, "lets get you healed up by Asia and then showered. I'll have Azula get more food on the table after she finishes teaching Akeno some more magic, right now, you need to have a nap."
"Yes, Sensei."
