Here I am with another translated chapter!
I've realised something very important, and that is that I didn't put at any point that this story will have M content in several chapters. I say this mainly for those who don't follow or favourite this story, because there will surely be a time when they won't find any more updates because this story will have moved to a more adult category. It's just certain scenes that are a bit racy, although there is no sex yet. Still, when there is, you will know about it because I will warn you repeatedly for all those who don't like to consume that kind of content, which is completely respectable.
Having cleared that up, it's time to answer some reviews:
The Beast of Sanity: That's right, you could say that the Demons are evil, and the Fallen Angels are a bit closer to them because of their Original Sin, though in some ways they have more self-control, it's just that they decide to what extent they want to control themselves. This last point is something that will be explained more fully in future chapters.
The name is Agron: I see that I still have some mistakes in that translation. I'll have to be more attentive for the next one, and thanks for making me see that.
Charles: I'm very glad to read that you're liking this so far. I hope the development you're looking forward to will be up to par. Sending you a big hug!
With nothing more to add, it's time to begin.
Enjoy!
CHAPTER 8: THE CRUSHING TECHNIQUE, DRAGON SHOT!
"¡300!" Issei would exclaim with great exhaustion, sprawling on the floor after completing the push-ups.
Tiamat was at his side, watching with great attention that he performed all the exercises correctly. "By tomorrow, the amount will increase by 25. And so on and so forth until the Rating Game arrives."
Issei looked up in horror. "Are you kidding me?!"
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Issei swallowed hard when he saw Tiamat's completely serious expression.
"B-but... I've never done so many reps in a single day before. Couldn't that affect my health?" asked Issei as comical tears streamed down his face, adding to the trembling of his entire body.
"No." Tiamat replied dryly, causing Issei to duck his head in defeat. "Remember that you are no longer human. It's practically impossible for your muscles to tear from doing such simple exercises. The only thing that will bother you, will be the intense and overwhelming fatigue you will feel on all days."
"I don't know if I really wanted to hear that answer..." Issei replied as a depressive aura came out around him.
Tiamat raised an eyebrow at this. "Then why ask?" Tiamat just shook her head. "Whatever. Now, I'd like to have a little confrontation with you, though I'll give you a head start..." Tiamat placed his hands in his pockets. "I won't attack."
"If you won't attack me, what's the use then?" Issei began to get up with great difficulty.
"It would be in vain to hurt you. The idea is for you to improve your speed and reaction. With your muscles so fatigued, it's the perfect time to do it." Tiamat replied, resisting the urge to laugh at Issei's condition.
"Un-understand!" Issei stood upright, though his body would be shaking with great intensity. He could practically feel his muscles screaming at him to stop straining.
A few seconds passed, causing Tiamat to look at him strangely as she saw him do nothing.
"You know you can start now, right?"
Issei just nodded awkwardly as his face turned purple. "I-I know. B-but I can't move."
Tiamat just gave a small sigh and looked up at the sky.
"We'll have to shorten the time of this training, or else it won't give us the time to practice magic. At least for today. It will surely come much earlier in the next few days..."
Tiamat watched with some amusement as Issei had just managed to take the first step. "But... no matter what the reason is. It's always fun and interesting to have him around."
LINE JUMP
Tiamat dodged one blow very easily, only to take the other one as if it was nothing. It didn't really hurt her at all, so she wasn't really concentrating on moving.
In fact, right now, she was much more focused on watching the sunset.
"Let's stop this for today." After Tiamat's words, Issei practically fell to the ground from the force of gravity that felt much heavier than normal.
Issei was breathing very shakily, while sweating non-stop. "Over two hours with this... I felt like I was going to die." He said with a cracked voice because of his irregular breathing.
"Now, we will try to release your magic." Issei looked at Tiamat completely pale. "Don't worry." She added quickly. "Magic does not require a physical training, but a mental one."
Issei breathed a sigh of relief. "Saved..."
Tiamat would give him a small smirk. "I wouldn't be so sure." Issei looked at her with confusion at her words. "You need a great deal of concentration to find your magical reserves. Mental exhaustion could be just as crippling as physical exhaustion. It's even worse, as you tend to faint much more easily. Not only when you seek to master it, but also when your magical reserves are about to be depleted." Tiamat looked at him seriously, indicating that he wasn't joking. "That means that if you mismanage your magic reserves, you could pass out in the middle of a fight without being able to do anything about it. Coincidentally, you have incredibly poor magic reserves, you know what I mean?"
Issei just nodded seriously as he struggled to his feet. "If that's the case, then isn't it better not to use my magic?"
A mysterious gleam flashed across Tiamat's eyes, along with her equally intriguing little smile. "I never said that. Even if your magic reserves are poor, it doesn't mean you can't create good magical attacks. In fact, when you learn how to release your magic reserves, I'd like to teach you a good attack."
Before Issei could ask which attack it was, a voice interrupted them.
"Excuse me, may I say something, Tiamat? It's really important." Ddraig's voice echoed from the gauntlet, causing Issei to look at him with surprise and Tiamat with seriousness.
The dragoness merely stood in silence for a few seconds, pondering her answer...
Finally she nodded, giving her permission to Ddraig.
"Enhancers not only increase your physical strength, agility, speed and endurance. They also increase your magic reserves in the period of time the enhancers are active. The problem is that your magic reserves are very low, and boosters would only be effective if they are built up non-stop. Although your training is helping you to be able to unleash more and more power without fainting, there will come a point where you will have to focus more on your Sacred Gear to keep evolving. Could you help him with that, Tiamat?
Issei looked very carefully at Tiamat after Ddraig's speech.
She lowered her head, placing a hand on her chin. "Impossible." Issei looked at Tiamat with great astonishment at her response. "May I remind you that the Sacred Gear were created in the last millennium, and I was locked within myself during that period." Tiamat looked up with some embarrassment. "In short, I have no idea how the Sacred Gear works." Her gaze would return to her gaze again. "But thanks to you, Issei has a small percentage of our kind in his soul. I can teach him some techniques of our kind along with the rigorous training that any Supernatural Being must go through if they are to become strong."
"I agree," Ddraig replied instantly. "He has yet to undergo arduous training before he begins to care about the potential of his Sacred Gear. Therefore, we shouldn't worry about it for the time being."
"Was there something else you wanted, Underdeveloped Lizard?" asked Tiamat seriously, though the amused air around her broke that seriousness.
" ...No." After those words, Ddraig could be heard grumbling some bad words under his breath for a few seconds.
Tiamat sat down in front of Issei, causing the brown-haired man to get a little confused. "We'll start right here. Training inside the cave would be counterproductive. It's a bit noisy outside my house, so it makes the work a bit more complicated, and that's exactly what I'm looking for. It will take you a couple of days longer to awaken your magic, but you'll get more used to the mental exhaustion, and you'll know more accurately when you're close to your limit. Issei just nodded and settled in as she did. "Now, close your eyes, and clasp your hands together, leaving a small gap in the middle." Tiamat watched carefully as Issei followed every step. "Look for the magical power within your body. Try to visualise it as much as you can between your hands. Don't get distracted at any time, or you'll have to start from scratch."
After his explanation, Tiamat was completely silent, studying Issei with her eyes.
And so the seconds passed...
And so the minutes passed...
The only noises that could be heard were those of nature...
After an hour, Tiamat watched intently as a small purple dot appeared between Issei's hands. Right after that, the purple dot disappeared and Issei began to stagger sideways with great fatigue. Finally, he passed out.
Tiamat let Issei fall over her shoulder, then hugged him warmly.
"You did well for your first time..." Tiamat said in a soothing voice, pulling Issei's body closer to hers, making the embrace much more passionate.
"Sorry to interrupt the moment," Tiamat opened her eyes with a small start. It never occurred to her that Ddraig shouldn't necessarily sleep when Issei did. "But there's something I need to talk to you about. In private."
"Make it quick..." Tiamat's tone was clearly displeased.
"When you said Issei was special, what exactly did you mean?" Tiamat was a little surprised by the question. "My doubts were fully confirmed when you mentioned that you had no idea about Sacred Gear, coupled with the fact that no one but Albion and I knew about these effects. So why did you say that Issei is special, if you didn't know that Demonic Corruption didn't affect him?"
Tiamat rested her chin on Issei's head, thinking of an answer. "Because he's been through things similar to mine, even worse, and yet he was able to live on without any problems. It's true that he still has after-effects that I don't know if they'll ever heal, but he's not hindered by them. He goes on with his life. So, I asked myself, 'If he has lived through something worse and managed to overcome it, why can't I? I know that dragons feel much more than humans because they have a much bigger emotional trigger than humans do. But still, Issei served as an example for me. Even if things don't go my way, it doesn't mean it's the end of the world." A small smile appeared on Tiamat's face. "If you were the second chance in my life, I could say that Issei is the third. But unlike the other two, he knew how to understand and support me at all times, even though he only met me 4 days ago. And thanks to him, I also realised that I acted wrong many times. Not only for me, but also for others." Ddraig was visibly surprised by that last comment. Tiamat gave a small sigh. "I can never forget how I felt when you rejected me, so I will never forgive you...but I realize now that I acted like a deranged madwoman these thousand years. I'm sorry."
An awkward silence fell between the two of them for a few seconds...
"I do not accept your apology," Tiamat was shocked by the response. "You have killed many of my bearers, just because of your madness. In my case, I will never be able to forgive you either. But I am not Issei." Tiamat widened her eyes at the last words. "I would like to stay as far away from you as possible, but Issei is my bearer. He's the one who decides who will be part of his circle, and from his attitude and thoughts, I'm sure you're at the top of that list right now." A small blush appeared on Tiamat's face after Ddraig's words. "Still, that doesn't answer the question I asked you earlier.
Tiamat sunk her face into Issei's neck tenderly, in an attempt to cover her blush. "Everyone thinks he's special just because he's the bearer of Ddraig. But to me, Issei is special in other ways. He made all sorts of emotions I didn't feel a millennium ago come rushing back in big holes. Happiness, joy, fun, sympathy... As far as I'm concerned, he's not special because he has a Heavenly Dragon. He's special because he has all those qualities I mentioned a moment ago..." Tiamat would tighten her embrace a little more, making Issei smile in his sleep. "He is MY Dragon of Light!"
Ddraig was completely shocked by her last words.
"Light Dragon... it's an ambiguous term that was used when dragons were in their heyday..." Ddraig thought with great surprise. "This term referred to dragons that descended from the sun to bring peace to the broken hearts of other dragons. Obviously, these are just stories..." Ddraig widened his eyes beyond belief. "But...for her to say that..."
"|...So, are you telling me that he's special to you, because he manages to make you feel great?|"
Tiamat further covered her face in Issei's neck, covering her growing blush. "That's how it is." Was Tiamat's simple answer, leaving Ddraig dubious.
"Why do I feel this way?" He thought the dragon, because of how her heart was beating more and more passionately, adding to the fact that the myriad of beautiful emotions were churning the pit of her stomach. "I'm just saying how he makes me feel, is there something weird about that?"
"|...Okay, I get your point...|" Ddraig said seriously, ending the conversation.
"I don't think she feels anything more for my partner. If so, she'd be acting crazy, just like before."
Ddraig was silent for a few seconds, only to frown completely. "Although..."
"He made me see that I did wrong many times."
"I'm sorry..."
Tiamat's words struck Ddraig's mind again. "She's definitely not the same as before. And all of that is thanks to Issei." The dragon thought seriously. "Besides, they're always so close…it's really weird…" Finally, Ddraig shrugged with a bored look on his face.
"I guess time will tell..."
LINE JUMP
After several minutes, Issei finally woke up with a huge headache. Quickly, he tried to put a hand to his head to ease the pain.
As he raised his hand, he was suddenly impeded by Tiamat's head, which was resting on his shoulder.
Seeing this, a small pained smile broke out on Issei's face, causing him to switch targets. The brown-haired man placed his hand on top of Tiamat's head, and caressed it affectionately.
"This reminds me of when I woke up in the morning..." Issei thought as she watched as Tiamat slept peacefully, sitting on top of his legs. "I always saw dragons as a fearsome, imposing and terrifying being. But, it never crossed my mind that they could also be beautiful..." Tiamat was woken up by Issei's voice. "Wake up already?" Issei asked with a smile, as he continued stroking her hair. Obviously, he hadn't realized that the last words he had said were out loud.
Tiamat was only looking at him penetratingly for a few seconds, making Issei a little nervous.
"I said something wrong?" Issei wondered out loud.
Tiamat quickly denied. "Not at all. I was just thinking that you did a good job today." She clarified, getting up and holding out her hand for Issei to get him up.
"Thank you!" Issei exclaimed with a toothy smile on her face. He glanced at the clock suddenly, and his eyes widened. "Shit! I have to go back now, or they'll kill me!"
"..." Tiamat lowered her head a bit, causing Issei to look at her in confusion.
"...Can't you stay?" Issei was surprised by Tiamat's sudden question.
Issei placed a hand on Tiamat's shoulder comfortingly, making the dragon look into his eyes. "I'm sorry but I can not." He responded pitifully. "But don't worry! We'll see each other first thing tomorrow morning!"
Tiamat's typical expression changed to a small smile. "OK." She positioned her hand on top of Issei's comforting grip, before creating the magic circle.
Finally, Issei disappeared with a huge toothy grin, leaving Tiamat all alone.
The woman stayed for a couple of seconds touching her shoulder, to then look inside her cave.
Her home was completely empty and dark, as it always was...
But those four days...
Those 4 days were really exciting. And for some reason, what she liked the most in those 4 days was the night.
Specifically, sleeping with Issei at night.
Unfortunately, tonight and the ones that follow cannot be like that. And that was something that bothered him a lot.
Tiamat hugged herself. "Why is your body so warm and comfortable?" She wondered herself, raising an eyebrow in the process.
She started to enter the cave slowly…
With each passing second, her face was getting more and more flushed…
"Am I really beautiful?" Tiamat thought as she remembered Issei's words.
LINE JUMP.
"It's taking time..." Rias gave a tired sigh seeing that Issei was the only one who hadn't arrived.
"There is still time, President." Kiba declared, looking at the clock that indicated how long it was until 10:30.
"If he doesn't arrive in 5 minutes, I'll kill him." Koneko commented, looking at the food on the table with great appetite.
Everyone heard the noise of the door, causing them to turn their heads...
Everyone widened their eyes in shock.
"Sorry I'm late. I fell asleep for a few minutes." Issei clarified with a smile on her face.
His body was completely sweaty, as were his clothes. He was leaning against the door frame, because he could barely stand up.
The first to change her surprised look was Rias, who gave her a smile. "From what I see, I don't need to worry about your training." Issei just replied with a smile, making everyone else nod in approval, indicating that they agreed with his mistress.
LINE JUMP.
"How do you feel today?" Tiamat asked with her arms crossed, watching as Issei was stretching her muscles to begin.
"Fine…" Issei blinked in surprise as he realized that he felt no pain at all. Quickly, he began to touch every muscle in his body in great surprise. "Actually, too good. It's like I didn't do anything yesterday…"
"You see it?" Issei looked at Tiamat with intrigue. "That's one of the many differences between a human body and a demon body." A somewhat terrifying smile appeared on Tiamat's face, causing Issei to have a chill throughout his body. "That means we can intensify the training more and more, without worrying about your health." Before Issei could rebuke, Tiamat reached out her hand just at the same time a magic circle appeared on the spot. She reached her hand into the magic circle, and from it began to pull out a sword that was made entirely of ice. A large amount of cryogenic steam was emitted around her, giving her a menacing aura, though her appearance was quite normal. "To start today, I'd like you to learn how to dodge thrusts. At least the most basic ones." Tiamat threw the sword and caught it multiple times. "To be honest, I'm not good with swords. But at least it will help you a little."
Issei just swallowed nervously when Tiamat looked at him with an imposing shine in his eyes.
"I know you do all this to help me. But your workouts are brutal." Issei thought, breaking into a cold sweat as Tiamat slowly approached him.
LINE JUMP.
Issei dodged a downward thrust with great difficulty, leaping back. He could see how the edge of the sword grazed his nose, practically freezing his nostrils.
"What the hell is up with that sword?! It barely grazed me!" Issei thought with his eyes widening as he couldn't see how a simple touch had frozen almost all of his nose. "I don't have time to think about it." He tried to stop panting from exhaustion, while he dried his face. His legs were shaking like jelly. "It's been 3 hours without a break. It moves so fast that if I react a thousandth late, I feel like I could snap in two." Issei tensed as Tiamat put her right foot in front, charging a sword attack from him.
A second later, Issei lost sight of her for a moment, causing a small blizzard to kick up Tiamat's previous position. Issei gritted his teeth when the dragon appeared in front of him practically out of nowhere, as she had been doing for these three hours.
Issei felt a strong tug on both of his legs. "Shit! My legs aren't responding!" Issei closed his eyes tightly when he saw how the sword was going to cut off his head.
Just when he was an inch from his neck, the attack stopped suddenly, creating a small blizzard that nearly knocked Issei to the ground. The brunette opened one of his eyes in confusion as he noticed that his head was still attached to his body.
"I guess that's your limit." Issei felt how Tiamat placed his hand delicately on his nose, healing the wound and thawing it. "Tomorrow I'll go a little faster." He cleared the dragon, pulling away as he began to play with his sword, flinging it and catching it with one finger. "Before you take a break, I'd like you to do one more thing." Issei looked at her with special attention. "I would like you to do three thrusts with my sword." She stopped playing, taking it by the handle and looking at him with her typical seriousness.
"Three thrusts?" Issei wondered out loud. "Well... at least it's something simple." Issei shrugged with a smile.
Tiamat only smirked at her words. "So..." Tiamat threw the sword at Issei's feet, causing the brown-haired man to yell in surprise when a crater was created by the weight of the sword. "Let it be four instead of three."
Issei stood up with a bit of difficulty and looked at the crater where he was standing with his eyes rolling. "I should have imagined it..."
LINE JUMP.
"Leave it for today." Tiamat ordered, arriving with some fruits to eat.
Issei released the sword as delicately as possible so he wouldn't create another crater on the spot. "Damn..." he Said he with great exhaustion. "I could barely lift it twice..."
"I didn't expect you to make it the first time." Tiamat answered, sitting down in front of Issei to share the food. The protagonist just rolled his eyes at his comment.
"Then we will do the same as yesterday, but adding 25 to each exercise." She stated matter-of-factly, eating her fruit calmly.
"Also with the legs?" Issei asked nervously. "They still haven't fully recovered..."
Tiamat only nodded. "When I say everyone, it's everyone." The dragoness gave him a somewhat imposing look, causing Issei to freak out a bit. Finally, her gaze softened and she gave a small sigh. "I know I'm too hard on you. But I'm only hard because I want to make sure you get strong." Tiamat looked down with some sadness. "I don't want to have to worry when you're not with me." She looked up from her suddenly, a tender look on her face. "I'm not saying you should spend all your time with me!" She quickly added. "The problem is your position. You are the wielder of the Welsh Dragon, and I am sure you will run into many powerful enemies."
Tiamat's eyes widened a bit as Issei beamed at her and grabbed her free hand lovingly. "I understand perfectly. You don't need to explain it to me." Issei squeezed Tiamat's hand a bit, causing a small discharge of emotions to hit the dragon's chest. "Omitting all of the above. It's nice to know that there is someone who cares so much for me."
Tiamat got a little carried away by her emotions, giving Issei a sweet smile. She returned his handshake, showing how fond she was of him.
TIME SKIP.
9 days had passed. Issei spent almost all of his time with Tiamat, although they only focused on training, so they rarely struck up a conversation.
There were a few days when Issei couldn't finish certain exercises, but considering the constant sum of numbers in his repetitions it was somewhat understandable.
On the last day, Issei had managed to perform 4 thrusts with the ice sword, and he also managed to perform all the exercises successfully after 2 days without being able to finish them. Considering that 11 days ago he started with 300 of each, it's quite an achievement that he can complete 550 in just a few days.
Regarding his magical power... he hadn't managed to get too far.
Now, the 12th day of training began. Therefore, there were 2 days left for the Rating Game.
Issei had completed the first series of trainings, so he was already on the small break from him, eating something along with Tiamat.
"Whew!" Issei gave a big snort, patting his stomach. "It's impressive that simple fruits can be so delicious."
Tiamat just nodded, agreeing. "Which exercise will you start with when your break is over?" The dragoness asked, opening her mouth wide to take a bite of the fruit, denoting her cute little fangs.
Issei put a hand to his chin as he thought carefully. "Hmmm...I was planning to start with some squats."
"Whoa!"
Their conversation was interrupted when they saw how the dragons they had met before were approaching them.
"How long, friend." Issei replied, giving the smaller dragon a small smile.
The little dragon just nodded with a smile.
"Guar, waver, vi, var!"
"She says that she comes to fulfill her promise. She wants to play with you." Tiamat served as translator while he continued to eat without paying much attention.
"Warer!" The little dragon touched Issei's face with her paw, making Issei look at her confused.
"You are stained. To play, you must remove the stain by staining another person who has not passed it on to you." Tiamat translated simply.
Issei quickly fixed her gaze on the dragon pope, causing him to jump a little at her gaze. The brown-haired man made a quick leap towards him, which was dodged without much trouble by the dragon. Issei smiled defiantly seeing that he was faster than he thought at first.
At this time, Tiamat found the game interesting. More than anything, because of Issei's look. "Remember that in an hour you must resume your training."
Issei just nodded, without taking his eyes off the dragon, who was starting to feel a little nervous because of his intensity.
Issei made another sudden jump again, being dodged again by the dragon. In less than a second, they began a huge chase around the entire cave and a part of the forest.
"I guess you didn't need the rest." Tiamat thought with an amused smile on his face, seeing how Issei tried to reach the dragon without success. The other two dragons were laughing at their interaction.
LINE JUMP.
Tiamat's eyes sparkled with excitement as she saw that a small purple orb had spawned in Issei's hand.
Issei opened his eyes when he felt something strange between her hands, giving a cry of surprise when she saw the small orb. Suddenly, most of his breath disappeared as he felt a great deal of his energy drain away.
Tiamat quickly grabbed his shoulders. "That's almost all your magical reserves. Try putting half of it back inside you to take that feeling away." Tiamat stated calmly.
Issei just nodded, closing his eyes again with great concentration. After that, the small 6 centimeter orb became a 3 centimeter one, causing Issei to snap his eyes open when he felt the energy return to his body.
"So…this is magic." Said Issei with great seriousness in his gaze.
Tiamat watched him closely. "Aren't you happy? After 12 days, you can finally wake her up."
Issei looked down in disappointment. "I don't know…it's really small. I doubt I could do anything interesting with it."
"Don't worry." Issei looked up from him in a bit of surprise, seeing Tiamat's smile. "Tomorrow I would like to teach you a deadly technique that requires very little magic power. With your current magic, you would be able to throw one of them." Tiamat narrowed her eyes boldly. "But, with your buffs, you'd be able to get through 5 or 6 without feeling mentally exhausted."
Issei could feel how a small chill ran through his entire body. Not only because of the new technique that he would learn, but also because of the fact that he would use his Sacred Gear.
That's right, Issei hadn't used his Sacred Gear at any time during his training, so he had no idea how many augmentations he could perform right now.
"I can't wait until tomorrow..." he thought with a flash of excitement in his eyes.
LINE JUMP.
"Activate your Sacred Gear."
Issei just nodded. A small flash of red encircled his arm, revealing the gauntlet. Issei looked closely at Tiamat, waiting for the next instructions.
"Release all augments."
"Boost!" The word echoed through the gauntlet for two long minutes, with a slightly slow continuity.
Finally, the counter stopped when it reached 35.
"15 more than last time..." Tiamat nodded to herself. "It's pretty good."
Issei nodded in agreement in amazement. In her first month she had managed to improve her limit by 20. But now, she barely spent 12 days training with Tiamat and the limit had almost doubled.
"Listen and observe carefully." Tiamat raised one of her arms with her open palm, pointing to a mountain in the distance. "Aim towards your target with the hand that you will launch the attack. After that, concentrate a small amount of magic in the palm of your hand. But think that you will fight a dragon attack. The underdeveloped Lizard will do the rest of the work."
Issei just nodded and imitated Tiamat's movements. After a second, a small red orb appeared in her hand, emitting a small sonic sound that was almost inaudible. Issei looked at the orb with some disappointment.
"That amount is fine." Issei was shocked by Tiamat's words. "I don't think you need more magical power to finish off your next opponents. Remember that your reserves are very limited."
Issei looked at the small red orb again suspiciously. "But..."
"Trust me."
Issei observed the small smile that Tiamat was giving him, causing her doubts to dissipate almost instantly.
"Now let it go."
Issei looked at the mountain that lay in front of him, and took a deep breath, easing her thoughts to release the attack.
Really, she didn't expect him to do too much...
"DRAGON SHOT!"
Ddraig's voice echoed through the place, being followed by the small orb that transformed into a huge and strong lightning that was fired against the mountain, completely destroying its top.
Issei could only close and open his mouth at what she had just witnessed. He couldn't find the words.
Tiamat deigned to watch silently with great amusement as he was acting.
"I told you it would be a good attack."
"Can I do 5 more attacks?!" Issei finally spoke, with little stars in his eyes.
Tiamat crossed her arms and nodded. "Though, with just one of those attacks you would be able to defeat a Mid-Class Devil without much difficulty. You just have to make sure you hit it." Issei looked at the gauntlet with great admiration. "Tomorrow will be the last day of training, so I would like to change the routine just for that day."
Issei watched Tiamat with bated breath. "What will we do?"
Tiamat placed both hands on her hips, giving him a commanding smile. "We will have a match. One on one. You will use your Sacred Gear and do your best to defeat me, as if I were your enemy." Issei gritted his teeth a bit at the statement.
He didn't have a good experience fighting her.
"Your power may have increased considerably. But if you don't test it once during a match prior to the Rating Game, it won't do much good."
Issei just looked at her seriously, without saying a word.
Even though every fiber of her body was screaming that she was going to suffer a lot, something inside of him was making him emotional.
He didn't know what that something was, but he liked it...
LINE JUMP.
Tiamat was dodging all the punches and kicks with great ease and technique.
"Damn, I can't get a hit!" Issei thought, gritting his teeth in anger.
In one of the many blows that he tried to hit her, Tiamat ducked to avoid a punch that grazed his light blue hair. Not a second later, Tiamat had plunged her fist into Issei's stomach, causing the protagonist to vomit a little blood, adding to the fact that he was thrown backwards by the blow. Since they were fighting outside, this time there was no wall to stop him from sliding, so he only stopped a couple of meters behind.
Issei was breathing heavily as he wiped the blood from his mouth. "After these 6 hours without her moving a muscle, she has given me the first blow. I can't believe that with just one blow she can do me so much damage." Issei thought with great admiration. "Without a doubt, my teacher is someone really strong." Issei stopped breathing heavily, outlining a small mysterious smile on his face. "With that in mind…" Issei raised his gauntlet towards Tiamat, causing the dragoness to look a little surprised. "I think I'll be able to use everything in one attack."
A large red ball that covered the entire palm of his hand suddenly appeared, causing Tiamat to widen his eyes.
"DRAGON SHOT!"
This time, the sonic sound and the amount of power released was 6 times higher than before, causing the ground to crack from the mere pressure exerted by the attack. The huge mass of red color was rapidly heading towards Tiamat, who was watching the attack with a much calmer look than at first. In less than two seconds, he was practically inches from his face.
"A desperate measure is never a good option."
Tiamat deflected the attack into the sky with a flick of his hand, causing the attack to angle at , then vanished into the air with a huge, deafening explosion that sent an incredible blizzard out of the place.
Issei could only watch helplessly as Tiamat had deflected the attack without getting annoyed one bit. Finally, his physical and mental exhaustion took over completely, and he fell unconscious.
Tiamat approached him with a worried look on his face.
"It was too sudden a move." Ddraig spoke, causing Tiamat to look down at the now non-existent gauntlet. "|I didn't have time to tell him it was a bad idea.|"
Tiamat closed her eyes seriously. "It was my fault I didn't tell him that a sudden large drain on magic reserves can make you pass out for a few minutes, or render you completely immobile for a few seconds." Tiamat loaded Issei on her back to take him to the cave.
"... can I ask you a question?"
Tiamat remained silent as he walked into the cave, giving her consent.
"Do you think he can win against Raiser?"
Tiamat stopped short after hearing the question, lowering her head in serious thought.
"...I don't believe it." Tiamat answered, closing her eyes in regret. "Although he has become very strong in two weeks, I think he needs more time to face a demon that belongs to the High Class. His physical strength, stamina, and speed are far below what is recommended for this class of matchups, and I don't think he can just beat him using his Dragon Shot, his enemy would have to be very stupid to take the hit, since it's not that hard to dodge when the attack is so weak, since the shot is too thin and takes a few seconds. to hit, depending on the distance."
"...To be honest, I think the same thing. I'm worried about him..."
Tiamat looked up at the sky with a glint of concern in his eyes. "I don't care if he loses or not, since in this case, the result is irrelevant when it comes to his safety. What worries me is how much that defeat could affect him."
Ddraig gave a great tired sigh, understanding what Tiamat meant.
"You only have this chance to return the favor to the bratty demon…"
END OF CHAPTER!
In the end, I was only able to cover the entire training, but that was what I set out to do in the previous chapter, so it's okay.
The Rating Game will not have many changes compared to the original story, since Issei is the only strongest of his team in this line. I'll only go through the parts that are interesting, so it doesn't get tiresome to read something exactly identical to the original work. I emphasize, although Issei is stronger than the original line, even the difference is not that noticeable since it has just started. But in the second arc, that difference will become much more noticeable, not to mention in the arcs that follow.
Leaving these ramblings aside, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Have a nice day!