I'm almost regretting wearing this oversized hoodie right now because holy fuck it's hot out here. I have my reasons, and I could be paranoid, but I really don't want anyone questioning my improved physique right now. There is literally no good answer to that. I want to hide this for a couple of days at least, weeks at most, because I have one thing going for me, and that's the genetic excuse.

Both of my parents can eat a family's worth of food in one sitting each and consistently for weeks, and still easily maintain great and healthy bodies when I know for certain that my mother barely exercises anymore. She takes a two-hour jog every once in a while and magically burns off all the weight she gained in a month.

It's insane now that think I about it, but I doubt genetics is a good excuse either. It might work on Ichiban or the devils, but my mother will easily see through it and get even more suspicious. Regardless, keeping up with baggy clothes for maybe a few weeks to a month should be enough. The harder I "train" the less time I need. Probably.

The heat is still killing me. Thank god the theaters had good air conditioning. Don't think I could've survived otherwise.

"You look like you're about to die," Mizuki says offhandedly as the two of us take the lead.

Issei and Ichiban were right behind us, excitedly talking about the movie with Asia walking next to them, barely keeping up with the conversation. She understands Japanese well enough to know what they're mostly saying, but isn't as good at speaking. Given enough time and exposure to the language will help her, though. I'd rather not explain everything to her in English.

She does look like she's having fun at least.

"Because I am."

"Your fault for not changing into something lighter." She responds, sipping from her cola. "I get the whole strip uno thing back there, but I didn't think you'd be too lazy to change. That's not like you."

"I just didn't feel like it." I wave it off. "Besides, I didn't have anything nice to wear."

"Right, most of your clothes are back in Kiyoraha." She nods, smirking a second later. "Well, your fault for not taking my offer to go shopping. You could've ended up lookin' sharp like your cool Kaa-san, but alas."

Glancing at her, I begin to think that my dress code was partly influenced by her after all. I've never seen my mother wear a skirt, or anything all that feminine for that matter. When at home, it's always T-shirts and jeans. When going out, like right now, she literally just adds a jacket and shades.

…Yeah, I'm definitely influenced by her fashion sense alright. Both of us gravitate towards 'cool' more than 'pretty'.

"I'll admit, you do look sharp in that," I say honestly, prompting her to pause in surprise.

"Wait, really?" She takes off her shades to look at me. "Do you mean that?"

"Yeah. I've always liked your style." I raise a brow. "Have I not mentioned it before?"

"T-this is the first ever time you called me 'cool'." She whispered. "Is this a dream?"

"Stop exaggerating." I shove her playfully. "If you're free later tonight, I'll take you up on that shopping offer."

"Hell yes! Oh, we're gonna have so much fun~!" She squeals in delight, hugging my arm. "I missed going out with you~"

"You're too close, get off."

"Eeeh? But I don't want to–"

"Alright, I'll just order clothes online, then."

"O-okay, okay, no more hugs. Point made. Sheesh," She backs off, changing the subject. "So have you decided on dinner yet? I'm getting kinda hungry."

"No," I respond, pausing for a second. "Ichi and I decided to do a little challenge about that actually."

"Oh?"

"Oi, Ichiban." I turn around and get his attention. "You haven't forgotten what we talked about earlier today, right?"

"Heh, 'course not." He smirks, cracking his knuckles. "I've been really looking forward to it."

"Eh?" Issei looks between us. "What's this all about?"

"We're gonna spar. The winner gets to choose dinner, and the loser pays for it." He explains. "And I'm just saying, we're gonna be eating reaal nice tonight."

"Yeah, agreed," I smirk back. "You'll regret picking up this fight, Ichi. Give up now, and I'll spare your wallet."

"You fuckin' wish."

"Ooh, that sounds exciting~" My mother quips. "My awesome daughter versus a Longinus wielder. Hold on, let me call your uncle. Akiyama needs to see this."

While watching the movie, I devised multiple plans for this fight, but unfortunately, they all require a quick KO. Ichi can outlast me with his Boosted Gear, but that's only if I waste too much time. It was worrying at first with my limited options, but I think I have a great plan to deal with him.

Attacking head-on is dumb, he'll see it coming and he'd be faster than me, so he'll have a massive advantage. But with my surprisingly versatile ice magic, I can win through trickery and quick thinking.

Like I said before, my ice magic is insanely strong, so one direct hit is all I need to knock him out, and while the same could be said for him, Ichi is basically a one-trick pony. He doesn't have any other option. Just charge, throw a punch and hope for the best.

So I'll have to play dirty if I want to win, ending the fight as soon as it starts without giving him any chance to retaliate. He won't be expecting me to go for an immediate knockout. However, if my first assault fails, I'm fucked, because then he'd be far more on guard. By the second boost, I'll be at a severe disadvantage.

What I'm also worried about is how he'll react. Ichi might not be the sharpest tool in the shed overall, but he genuinely knows how to fight, even before learning martial arts. Dirty fighting is the bread and butter for former street brawlers like us. He'd see through my trickery if I'm not careful enough. I'm confident in my plan, though. The quicker I move, the harder it is for him to retaliate and respond correctly.

I can do this.

I'm getting that damned Legendary Tier token, and nobody can stop me.

– Ichiban Kasuga –

If there was one thing he'd openly admit, it'd be how friggin' pumped he was for the duel. It was honestly kinda hard to pay attention to the movie with the thought at the back of his head, he was that excited.

Ichiban wouldn't say he was some kind of a fighting junkie or anything, but he'd be lying if he said he hadn't developed a fondness for fighting. He had lived in Kamurocho since birth, and once he hit twelve years old – yes, twelve – he finally began fighting for real.

That hellhole of a town was fucking cursed. There were so many fucking thugs and delinquents always either harassing civilians or picking up fights with each other.

So many 'gangs' would be created and destroyed in the span of a few years. Hell, he and Akane destroyed one themselves at some point. The Keihin Gang or something.

So he knew that even without her magic, Akane was a fierce fighter for sure. Their first fight ended in a stalemate because they were interrupted, and thinking about it now, they never really fought again. Not even to settle the score.

So when she suggested that they spar together, and he replied with his jokingly smug response, things snowballed and now he had a chance to prove that he could've won that fight they had years ago. He never wanted to hit girls and was raised not to, but Akane was an exception.

Fuck's sake, she fought better than most of the adults he beat up when he was a street rat. If anything, he viewed her as more than just a best friend. She was his rival, and maybe somewhat of a leader, too.

He must say, though, he was very looking forward to punching that smug look off her face. Even right now, she still had that casual yet infuriating smirk on her, as if she knew what he was thinking right now. She didn't look one bit worried, and that kinda made him frustrated.

What, why was she looking at him like that? Why was she so confident? Did she not see him as a threat? No, that couldn't be it. Knowing her, she just wanted to get under his skin and make him fuck up. He knew she liked her mind games.

"Ichi, one final warning." She said, standing at the other side of the docks, right in front of their warehouse secret base. "Give up."

"Fuck that." He scoffed, mirroring her smirk. "Why would I give up when I know I can kick your ass? Knowing your cheap ass, you'd make me pay for some shitty fast food restaurant. I want something fancy and treat everyone here. With your money."

"You know, you losing would still mean I would be paying." She retorted, crossing her arms. "Remember the hundred grand? Don't tell me you spent all of it already."

"T-that's still my money!" He weakly protested.

"Is it though?" She tilted her head. "Is it really?"

"You gave it to me, thus it's now mine." He argued, more calmly this time as he glanced at the audience. Mizuki, Akiyama, Issei, and Asia all looked at him with varying degrees of emotions, ranging from pity to disgust. "...You're making me look like an idiot."

"You don't need my help for that." She shrugged. "You already have that afro."

"Oh, it's on now, you smug bitch." He muttered to himself, getting into his stance.

"Struck a nerve, did I?" She giggled, doing the same.

"Alright, are both of you done trash-talking and ready to fight?" Akiyama called out to them, making them nod. "Three, two, one, fight!"

Ichiban quickly summoned his gauntlet as he rushed forward, feeling so much stronger as the first second of the battle passed. Akane's smirk disappeared, replaced with a focused frown as she simply stood there waiting for him.

Ichiban expected her ice weaponry to appear around her, aiming to skewer him while defending her, or she'd use her wing spell to gain a distance. He already had a counter to those, which was simply charging through weapons. They'd hurt, but Akane wouldn't be using any lethal force, and he was confident enough to know he could tank them.

Akane also wouldn't be using that bullet spell because try as she might, it was hard not to make it lethal. She's overconfident in her spells, and wouldn't be expecting him to go through them like a lunatic. One good hit is all he needs to turn this match in his favor. As soon as the second boost hits, he wins. Even that wing spell wouldn't help her, because all he'd need to do is dodge for the next ten seconds and gain the third boost.

However, to his surprise, Akane didn't do either of the actions he anticipated. Instead, she crouched and created a wall in front of her. From said wall, the ground around it began to turn into ice faster than he could react, and once it reached his foot, it sprouted a crystal cage of some sort that held him in place.

"What the hell?!" He grunted, actually struggling to break the thing.

Right before he broke it, a thick and freezing mist began to surround him, so much so that he found it difficult to breathe, and almost impossible to see. Ichi broke the ice cage around his foot, looking around for his opponent. He calmed his breathing, as hard as that was, and focused on his sense of hearing.

He heard something approach from behind, twirling around and ready to throw a punch, however, another ice cage encased his leg, catching him off guard. Ichi flinched as he saw the blunted tip of a blade approach his chest. He only barely managed to evade the attack, but it was then when he noticed around a dozen of ice arrows and spears surrounding him.

Even then, he smirked, as he mentally counted to ten.

"BOOST!"

Acting quickly, Ichiban slammed his foot on the ground, the shockwave from that shattering all the ice weaponry heading towards him as well as the sword his opponent was holding. He threw a devastating punch at Akane, a victorious smile blooming on his face… right until his fist made contact with knight armor made of ice, shattering it instantly. His breath hitched and his eyes widened in panic as he looked around for his real opponent.

Oh…

From the corner of his eyes, he noticed his best friend almost right next to him, the biggest and smuggest smirk on her face as she swung a hammer made of ice at his face. He was too busy with the many distractions to hear or even notice her approaching.

Ooooooh…

There was no way he could dodge, not when she was so close and in the middle of swinging her hammer. This fucking girl came up with a near-perfect strategy in less than a day and easily pulled it off. He played right into her hands, and he had no one but himself to blame.

All Ichiban could do now is to brace himself for the painful hammer strike that was about to probably render him unconscious, and so he did by grimacing and shutting his eyes right before the ice spell made contact.

Well played.

He didn't know whose laughter it was that echoed in his head, but he really wanted to strangle them to death.

– Akane Amamiya –

For the record, my ever-widening smile isn't because of Ichi's unconscious body right next to my feet, even if that ultimately led to the actual reason. It was the jump in power I just experienced from the quest I completed.

[Currents Too Great to Overcome]

Objective: Defeat Ichiban Kasuga in a sparring match

Bonus Objective: Knock out Ichiban Kasuga in 30 seconds

Rewards: +50 to all stats, Moderate EXP, unlock affection for Ichiban Kasuga, 1 Epic Gacha Token, 2500 Credits

Bonus Rewards: +100 to all stats, Massive EXP, Greatly increase affection with Ichiban Kasuga, Legendary Gacha Token, [Forever a Leader] Perk, 5000 Credits

I knew it would fucking work! Fuck yes, my genius is unparalleled! The sheer amount of stats I've gained through this little quest is insane– on top of my double stat increase, this was an easy 300 to everything. I feel absolutely fantastic.

I was a bit doubtful and anxious earlier but it looks like those feelings were unfounded. Hell, I didn't even need thirty seconds. The fight ended in ten seconds. Ten fucking seconds were all I needed to knock this dumbass out.

Now I have five new perks, four of them being stat milestones, a solid 100 increase in STR due maxing out Ichi's rep, and a Legendary Gacha Token, which could be anything. From a busted power to a bullshit weapon. God, I need to open it right fucking now.

But disappearing off the face of the earth isn't a good idea at the moment. Still need to show off my victory to the rest before I can fuck around in a dungeon and test out my new powers. Ugh, the anticipation is killing me though.

With a flick of my hand, the cold mist around us disperses, revealing me to be the victor. My mother, Asia, and Issei look at me with sparkly eyes of either pride or admiration, while my uncle nods with a smile.

Asia and Issei rush towards me, the former kneeling next to Ichiban to heal him as the latter asks me all kinds of questions. Honestly, I'm not even mad or annoyed at him as he keeps pestering me, not when I'm on cloud nine.

"What the hell was that?!" He asks, looking between me and Ichiban. "That was some- some Akuma shit! We couldn't see the fight at all, and suddenly he's down on his ass out cold and you're all smug about it!"

"What, disappointed you couldn't see what happened?" I raise a brow, kinda enjoying the look of pure admiration on his face.

"I-I mean, yeah, a bit, but at the same time, that was fuckin' awesome!" His eyes shine with awe. "How'd you do that?!"

"Nothing special. I just used my head." I tap on my forehead. "I knew I needed to end the fight quickly or he'd overwhelm me with boosts, and charging head-on sounded dumb when I know for certain he's stronger and faster than me."

"So you used trickery." My uncle continues off for me. "Solid plan, Even if I don't know what exactly happened in there, I got the gist of it."

"Remember kids, fighting dirty can and will save your life." My mother adds, with Issei looking like he's taking the lesson to heart. "Fighting with some code of honor, while admirable, isn't a good idea in a fight to the death."

"Understood, Mizuki-san." Issei nods seriously, then looks back at me. "For real though, what happened? You gotta tell us!"

"Sure, I don't mind." I shrug before pausing. "...After I'm done with my bathroom break."

"...W-were you holding it in the middle of the fight?" My mother looks at me weirdly. "Why didn't you go before the duel started?"

"Extra bragging rights."

"Of course." Akiyama shakes his head in exasperation. "Well, alright. We'll nurse Ichiban and wait for him to wake up while you take your time doing your business."

I flash everyone one last proud grin before rushing towards the bathroom inside the warehouse, knowing that there aren't any cameras or anything inside after my uncle made it clear that the Tojo Clan isn't made up of perverts, and can actually respect people's privacy. Of course, that's not exactly what I'm worried about– since getting the system, I didn't need to use the bathroom once.

Once I'm inside, I lock the door behind me and use ID Create, planes of reality shifting and changing. I exit the bathroom once I'm inside the dungeon, almost skipping a step from my excitement. The zombies aren't the best thing to use my new powers against, so I'm pretty limited in testing, but that's not important. Right now, I want to see my stats and use my Tokens.

First, my overall power and new perks.

Name - Akane Amamiya

Level - 110

Title - Undead Slayer

Primary Class - Swordmaster - LVL 10/100 [48%]

Secondary Class - Engineer - LVL 7/100 [8%]

Race - Human

Rank - Mortal

Alignment - Neutral Evil

HP - 9000 [600 per minute]

MP - 13,420 [7944 per minute]

SP - 9000 [600 per minute]

STR - 800

END - 600

DEX - 760

INT - 1342

WIS - 1324

CHA - 690

LUK – 490

[Mighty Muscles] – Perk – 500 STR

Your strength is beyond what your current muscles are capable of producing, as such, your melee strikes pack a much bigger punch than what one would expect. Your enemies are in for a world of hurt.

All physical attacks deal 25% more damage

[Heart of Toughness] – Perk – 500 END

Your heart produces stronger blood in a higher quantity, giving all your organs a powerful layer of defense and more energy to your whole body. You're a bit harder to kill than normal.

HP and SP are increased by 50%

[Quick and Precise] – Perk – 500 DEX

With your supernatural dexterity, your precision has gone up significantly, and all of your projectile attacks are much faster than before. Nothing can escape your aim now.

You have perfect aim, and all projectiles, magical or otherwise, are 20% faster.

[Villainous Aura] – Perk – 500 CHA

You exude the presence of a terrifying villain, capable of even intimidating enemies who are more powerful than you. Perhaps playing the part would help in that regard, a supervillain must be presentable after all.

Intimidation checks are three times more effective, and intimidated victims suffer a 15% decrease in all stats.

Note: This perk is tied to your alignment

[Forever a Leader] – Perk

Perhaps it's instinct, or possibly a supernatural force, but most allies will always look up to you as their leader, getting advice from you or listening to your words more seriously.

Increase reputation and loyalty gain by 25%

This perk does not work when there's an official leader present.

God, so many perks for a single, tiny quest. The one that's most interesting is the Charisma perk. So if I'm good or neutral, would I get a different perk? I'm guessing something like Heroic Aura for a good alignment, but I'm not sure what I'd get if I was neutral.

I still find it weird that the Game immediately put me in the 'evil' category. I haven't done anything bad since I first reincarnated. Sure, I thought about it, but it's not like I'm about to actually go and kill Rias or something, even if I hate her. That'd just turn out horribly for everyone involved.

I don't know, is it those guys that I killed back in Kiyohara? That was arguably in self-defense, I did nothing wrong. I mean, I don't think I could've beaten them without magic since they all had better physical stats than me, even if I've fought bigger and stronger before.

…Huh, now that I think about it. All of my stats were at a 10 when I woke up that night, but before that, I knew for certain that I was unnaturally strong for a girl my age. Did the Game maybe reset my stats to average?

I'd ask and complain about that, but honestly, I don't care right now. I have the tokens to open up now. One Epic and one Legendary. I'm using the worse one first because you always save the best for last.

With a snap, the stick gets replaced with a small bag of… bullets?

[Endless Golden Bullet Pouch] – Item

A magic item holding an infinite amount of golden bullets. Put it on your person and never worry about reloading or running out of ammo ever again!

Golden Bullets deal 750 damage.

Oooh, that's a really good item for sure. I wish it was silver bullets to pair with Angel's Sorrow for its bonus, but this is awesome too. Infinite ammo is one thing, but not even needing to reload? That's even a better function than not needing to worry about ammo.

Alright, now for the big one. God, I'm so excited~

I take out the token, anxious and eager to see what I'll be getting. I'm not someone who usually has high expectations, but I can't help it this time. If epic tier got me an infinite bullet pouch, what can the tier above it do?

Not being able to hold my anticipation any longer, I snap the token, getting a new skill notice that almost made my eyes bulge out of my skull. I read the notice a few more times, rub my eyes in disbelief, then read it one more time to confirm what I'm seeing.

Oh.

[Devour] – Legendary Skill

Souls of the living shiver in your presence, deathly afraid of what you're capable of. An insanely strong yet utterly heinous power– the power to devour the souls of your victims, is in your hands.

You're able to absorb or 'devour' the souls of living entities, restoring all your HP, MP, and SP back to full, gaining their most powerful skill and 20% of their stats.

The method requires you to be close to the victim, thrusting your hand in their heart after activating the skill, pulling out the soul and crushing it. It must be the finishing blow, as you're not able to take the souls out of corpses. If the target is near equal or superior in strength, they must be weakened enough for the skill to work.

Note: Dungeon monsters will not give skills or stats but will restore your HP, MP, and SP.

Devour 50 Souls to upgrade this skill [0/50]

What the fuck?

That's… can that even be considered Legendary? This is beyond broken. Feels it should be two tiers above it, even with the restrictions kept in mind, because this is the first non-mastery skill that I can actually upgrade. Who knows how strong this skill can become if I focus on upgrading it.

This is a game changer, but at the same time, it's dangerous. I can't be seen casually using it– Killing is one thing, devouring their very souls is something entirely different. I don't know how others would react to me using this on anyone, even enemies. Nobody has to know about this skill.

I should use it wisely.

After a minute of thinking, I begin a wave of zombies. Slowly, they enter the warehouse and approach me. I don't know if it'll work against the undead since they're basically corpses, but I'm hoping it does. I want to at least know what it looks like.

I look at my right hand, pale skin turning pitch-black as some terrifying, otherworldly energy envelops it. I know it's harmless considering it's mine, but I couldn't help but flinch. This feels very disturbing, I almost instinctively turned it off even.

I clench and unclench my fist as the black aura reaches up to my elbow. It doesn't hurt or feel weird at least.

As the first zombie gets a little close, I thrust my arm at it, cleanly going through its chest. I expected blood and gore to splatter and ruin my outfit, but that didn't happen. It's as if my hand phased through it, yet at the same time, I still feel like I'm grabbing something.

With a grunt, I pull it out. The zombie immediately collapses on the ground as a tiny white flame dances on the palm of my hand. Is this… what souls look like? So to gain someone's powers, I just have to crush this?

Without hesitation, I close my fist on the soul, hearing a small cracking noise before a faint whistle echoes out in the warehouse. I don't pay much attention to those, however, as I feel a sudden feeling of vigor course through my body, and it feels wonderful.

I rush towards the other zombies, doing the same thing as a smile slowly begins to bloom on my face. Once all the zombies were killed, I deactivate the skill. As I expected, dungeon monsters don't count as 'Souls' in the skill upgrade objective, which should've been obvious.I don't feel more powerful, but it's like all the exhaustion within me just disappeared, even if I wasn't tired in the first place.

It's addicting.

If this is what it feels like on dungeon monsters, then what would happen once I use it on someone for real? It's kinda scary to think about, knowing I could lose myself to this power, but at the same time, I'm just so damn curious.

I shake those thoughts out of my head. That's a dangerous line of thinking. I shouldn't be using this skill without thinking, even if it felt incredible. I don't want everyone turning against me once they know I can devour the souls of others.

With the new powers tested, I run back to the bathroom and lock the door behind me. I've spent a little too much time playing with my powers. If I don't go back now, they'd notice that something is off. Time doesn't stop when I use I.D Create after all.

I don't know if the system malfunctioned and gave me something way too damn powerful, or all Legendary tokens give something equally absurd.

But I think I hit the jackpot with that one.

– Shun Akiyama –

Witnessing a duel between Akane and Ichiban wasn't how he expected his day was gonna go, and he certainly didn't think it would end so quickly. He had trained both kids, he knew most of their strengths and weaknesses. He expected a much closer fight and even thought Ichiban was gonna win in the end, but perhaps he underestimated his niece.

Akane had always been a sharp one, she could think fast as long as her anger didn't blind her, but against a Longinus class Sacred Gear when she herself was a beginner, he wouldn't have expected it to be enough. But once again, she surprised them as she relied on wit and trickery to win a fight she couldn't win through sheer overwhelming force, which was her preferred method. It was quite something alright.

Now he understood why she was so confident the whole time. What she pulled off was generally unexpected from her. Sure, she fought dirty most of the time, but to fully count on a quick, unpredictable knockout wasn't something she'd usually do.

But maybe knowing that she couldn't win via overwhelming power was what forced her to think outside the box. This was the quality of a natural-born warrior. Maybe the Amon blood ran stronger than what he or Mizuki thought.

Of course, that wasn't the only indication. Akane was a terrifyingly fast learner, so much so that she already perfected her stance in such a short amount of time. She'd observe him sparring with Issei or Ichiban and immediately pick up his own moves, using them on him in their training.

He slowly began to understand what Majima was on about when he spoke about her. This sparring match even proved him right somewhat.

It was an instant and nearly untraceable, but her magic spiked right at the end of the match, likely when she landed the finishing strike. Akane seemed to be masking her energy, probably to throw off Ichiban which worked out in the end, but that sudden and faint increase of her magic was something he caught on, and likely so did Mizuki.

He didn't know what to think about it. Sure, Akane becoming better and stronger was something he was hoping for, but people don't just get stronger like this in the middle of a short sparring match. That was completely unnatural.

What caused that spike in power?

And Akane seemed to act as if nothing happened. Did she know, or is she genuinely oblivious to the change in her magic? He couldn't tell, nothing from how she was acting suggested that she knew about it. Asking her directly wasn't the right move, he'd rather not make her suspicious of them or look like an idiot.

He shook his head as he exited the warehouse, closing the door behind him. He quickly spotted Mizuki leaning right next to the door, a lit cigarette between her fingers and a face deep in thought.

"So what'd you think?" He asked her, prompting her to look at him. "About the fight I mean."

"Heh, of course, I knew Akane would win, even against the Red Dragon Emperor. She's my flesh and blood after all." Mizuki smirked, puffing her chest in pride. "Was never a matter of if, only when."

"Not a shred of doubt?"

"Nu-uh, I knew she'd win the moment I saw how confident she looked." She said. "I know my daughter well enough to recognize when she's showing bravado, and when she actually has a plan."

"Oh? And what's the difference."

"She'd exaggerate her confidence if she was worried and trash talk a lot more," Mizuki answered. "It's kinda obvious when you see it."

"Well, she's definitely gonna be trash-talking when Ichiban wakes up," Akiyama said. "Poor kid won't hear the end of it from her. A ten-second knockout is one hell of a way to hurt a man's pride."

"Kukuku~ I'm not letting it go either~"

"You two are a menace."

With a sigh, he took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it up with a flick, waiting for Mizuki to answer his real question. A moment of silence passed between the two friends, both of them thinking about what that fight could mean, and how it possibly affected Akane.

Mizuki didn't seem as worried as he was, her facial expressions and tone told him so, so he wanted to know what this was about exactly.

"I don't think that's related to her Amon bloodline or anything." She said. "She doesn't seem to be sinking into the Amon Mindset, not as much anyhow. This seems related to how Akane grows in strength."

"What do you mean?"

"Her growth process is weird, and once I realized it, it brought up more questions than it answered anything, to be honest with you." She sighed. "She's exponentially growing stronger, that much is obvious, but going through the same method over and over doesn't seem to work. It doesn't just slow down, but outright stops even."

He frowned.

"Now that you mention it…"

"Skill-wise, she does become better, but physical and magical power doesn't move an inch unless the method is new. It's extremely odd." Mizuki continued. "It seems like some sort of adaptability. The harder the challenge, the more she gains out of it. However, if she's already adapted–"

"It's useless to her." He nodded, finishing the sentence. "Yeah, that is weird. So the Amon clan don't have that adaptability?"

"No, or at least, not to that degree. Akane's is a souped-up version. Whereas it took me weeks to months to adapt, Akane only needs a few hours to a day." She said. "And unlike her, we can still get better even if we already adapt to a specific training method, while she gets no returns at all. I don't know if her Yuki Onna blood synergized with the Amon bloodline much better than mine, but it at least answers the question of how she's been getting so strong so quickly."

"True, but I don't think we have a way of confirming it. Not yet at least." Akiyama responded.

"Yup, all we can do is speculate. I have hopes that one day Akane will come clean and tell me everything, so I won't pry any further than this." Mizuki shrugged. "What matters is that none of the mental changes seem to be there. As long as Akane never gets that damned urge, I think she should be left alone to grow on her own."

So Majima's insane method, as much as he hated to admit it, was the best for someone like Akane. Issei and Ichi could grow physically more powerful the more experienced they were with their Sacred Gears, so there's no need to throw them to the wolves, but Akane wasn't gonna get more powerful with this safer method.

He held his tongue, though. Saying that to Mizuki's face would only result in him having to use Suzaku to regenerate his balls. He already had to do that once, and it wasn't fun.

"Well, that's enough smoking for today." She said, freezing the cigarette solid before crushing it into tiny particles. "You better stop or you're gonna ruin your lungs."

The irony wasn't lost on either of them as she said that of course..

"You better stop drinking or you're gonna ruin your kidneys."

"I'm immune to poison, you fool." She said proudly, entering the warehouse after muttering the next sentence. "Assassin clans for the win~"

He scoffed playfully and shook his head with a smile.

A menace indeed.

Shorter than usual, and I would've written one more scene, but I think having that be the opening scene to the next one sounded better. Duel, while didn't last long, was fun to write.

And finally, Akane's most powerful weapon is finally here. Devour is a very important skill narratively as well. You'll see what I mean later in the fic.

Also, I have made a new fic titled "Draconic Impact" currently only exclusive to my discord server. You can check it out there. It'll be posted here eventually though. Probably. Maybe.

Discord Server link: (Discord . gg / Rjjzt8erYK) no spaces.