Welcome to the next chapter of DxD – The Last Amagiri, but before starting the story. Let's answer some reviews:
Altair95: Thanks. Yep, all of them are official high school students and will be going to the Norse Faction as their next destination.
Meeting the Waylands
"Alright, one more time. Left, right, left, right."
[Left, right, left, right!]
Standing inside the training area of the Amagiri Clan main shrine, Kensei watched as several of the kids dressed in training uniforms. They all lived in the orphanage run by Abigail's mother and reached the age where they were able to enter normal school. Aside from training in their supernatural power whether personal, sacred gear, even demonic power. Kensei thought that training in martial arts would assist in their growth and discipline.
"Alright, right kick and hold!"
He instructed, with them getting into a position to kick, and remained there as Kensei began walking down the line of his students to see their balance. A lot of them were able to hold their balance, if not being a little shaky since it would be troublesome to maintain that position. He soon found one of the boys having trouble standing straight in a balanced posture.
"Having a little trouble, Lars?"
"N-No, I can handle it."
Lars Bune, now thirteen years old was born from one of the now-extinct 72 Pillars, his clan bred with humans for survival, but his clan's trait ended up altered a little. He was one of the oldest kids and Kensei could tell that Lars wanted to prove himself to others, but he decided to give him a little tip.
"Well, alright. But, it might help that you fix your footing a little bit and lower your back a little."
Kensei advised as he continued walking down the line of his students, Lars decided to take the advice and he did improve from his initial stance. After waiting for a couple of minutes, he noticed that a lot of them were beginning to lose their footing and he waved his hand.
"Alright, that's enough. You can take a break."
Hearing his words caused most of them to fall onto the ground, landing on their butts as breath escaped from a lot of their mouths. For most of the time during their training, all of them did a similar training almost every time as a part of their basic training.
"Okay, I know that most of you are wondering why you're doing this basic training exercise again? Would anyone want to repeat the previous explanation that I gave?"
Kensei looked around at his students, wondering if one of them was going to raise their hand. Soon enough, a blonde-haired girl whose hair was tied into a ponytail raised her hand.
"Yes, Jess."
"Kensei-sensei," he couldn't get used to being called that yet. "You said that it was to help in maintaining both our balance and control our center of balance so that we won't lose our footing in combat."
"Exactly, in a fight, losing your balance or footing could be dangerous. So, that is the reason that it would be best to first train your balance and…."
Kensei stood as he sensed the presence of two people beside him, then covered both his hands in touki before he raised them. From both sides, he caught a katana in-between his middle and index fingers, both his attackers were suspended in the air. Despite being attacked, Kensei didn't appear to be either fazed or agitated about it as he flung both of his attacks into two different directions. In response to this, his attacks flipped up and were able to regain their footing before landing on their feet.
"…so that you'd be able to maintain your footing and recover if you do end up tripping," Kensei explained wearing a gentle smile on his face as his students stared at him in wonder about what happened, he then turned around to face. "Also, good job with that sneak attack and it even went along with my teaching."
"Ugh, we didn't get close at that time. You sensed us using that ki sense thing, didn't you?"
The girl standing on the right accused as she pointed her finger toward him.
"I don't think that Aniki did that. I think that it was because Akari-chan got too heated in that last attack."
"Huh, but I getting heated is the best thing in attacking head-on like that."
"But, that doesn't make it a sneak attack though."
Said girl was revealed to be Akari, now twelve years old dressed in a martial arts uniform. And the other one was Naoto, now at the same age was dressed in the same thing. Both of them stood next to one another with Akari in a more fiery mood and tomboyish than ever before.
"Then, I'll leave the sneak attacks to you. Going head-on is more my fighting style anyway."
"That might end up leading to trouble in the future though Akari-chan."
Naoto pointed out as he directed his attention toward her.
"Well, I know that Enten and I will be prepared for anything that'll come for us in the future," Akari declared in a confident tone. "And I know that my burning passion will lead me to victory!"
Akari raised a reddish katana that has a flame-shaped guard, which also seemed to radiate heat.
"Uh, then I'll embody technique using Yamato."
Naoto held a grayish-blue traditional katana that has a cross-shaped guard.
Both of them were their sacred gears under the same type, creation sacred gears named Spiritus Armiger, which manifests a specific weapon from their soul matching their inner aesthetic.
"Well, I know that both of you will do great things in the future."
Kensei said as he placed his hand on top of both their heads in a comforting manner, causing Naoto to become a lot more bashful and Akari more proud as she stuck her chest out.
"Well, since the basic training is done. Who would like to spar against Naoto and Akari?"
He called out to all his students who were in front of him, causing two of them to raise their hands at a moment's notice, which were Lars and Jess.
"Alright, everyone starts getting into position. Remember the rules about causing serious harm to one another."
Kensei said as all of them started getting into position at an arranged area.
Both Naoto and Akari stood side-by-side with Lars and Jess standing at a distance in front of them; the latter held her sacred gear, which took form as a bluish plush rabbit. Seeing all of them in position, Kensei reached inside of his pocket, pulling out four talismans, which he covered in spiritual power before tossing them into their direction.
"I hereby craft a barrier that seals off the inner world and obstructs the outer world."
After uttering a small chant, the talismans got in position, making a transparent multi-colored barrier around them large enough for all of them to fight undeterred.
"Alright, this will be a two-on-two fight between Naoto and Akari versus Lars and Jess. Remember the rules and do not hurt one another too much."
[Understood!]
All four of them replied as the four of them got into position.
"Alright, let's do this, Lepi!"
Jess called out cheerfully as the plush rabbit started moving around as if it were alive before moving out her arms in a sudden manner.
Soon enough, a pale bluish light started to radiate from it, as the small supposed plushie started growing to about the size of a young teen with small horns. Her Independent Avatar Sacred Gear, Lepus Cornutus, she calls "Lepi" in an affectionate manner, which attacks those it perceives as a threat to its owner. Lepi had done so without her consent in the past, due to training, Jess was able to control its tendencies.
"Hahaha, I'm not afraid of a challenge. Especially, from a little rabbit."
"Lepi isn't a small rabbit. Prove it to her, Lepi!"
In response to Jess' command, Lepi charged for Akari at high-speed as the redhead responded by swinging her Enten at the speeding rabbit. It avoided the slash by jumping above the slash as the blade was swung towards its original path. After landing on the ground, Lepi turned around aiming a sudden kick in her direction. Akari using her training, managed to block the kick but could feel the pressure behind it, which sent her back a little.
"I won't be stopped by a rabbit!"
"Lepi is Lepi, not a normal rabbit!"
Both Akari and Jess declared energetically as their battle continued.
"Hahaha, sorry about Jess. She changed a lot compared to a couple of years back."
"No, I understand. Akari-chan gets a little too heated too."
"We all owe a lot of Kensei and the others," Lars said as he scratched the back of his head thinking back to their hell on earth called Hagun Island. "Neither of us had a life for all of them started the rebellion and all of us chose to become more like them instead of being scared. And even though, you're his little brother…."
Lars stated before he began getting into a stance where his hands were held out as pale green circuit-like lines started being traced around his arms and legs.
"That doesn't mean that I'm holding back."
"Same here."
Naoto replied wearing a light smile as he held his hands on Yamato, getting into a posture found in Kendo.
Lars forward at a speed higher than what Naoto was expecting, but he managed to block a straight-on punch using his blade. Despite coming into contact with the blade's edge, there wasn't a single wound on his fist, likely due to the reinforcement from using his unique trait. Both he and Naoto continued with their clash with neither of them being unable to get in a proper hit on one another.
"…Nii-Nii."
As Kensei was walking from the crowd of children watching the fight between both Naoto and Akari versus Lars and Jess, he heard a small voice calling out to him. He smiled as he noticed a black-haired female infant no less than one-year-old if not a little older was walking in his direction dressed in a bluish onesie.
"Hi, Nari-chan."
Kensei said in a happy tone as he picked up the small infant.
"Hahahaha."
Nariko Uesugi, his younger half-sister was born almost over a year prior. He and Naoto couldn't be any more ecstatic after hearing that Natsumi was pregnant with a baby girl. Kensei held onto his little sister as he went to sit down with his stepmother, Natsumi Uesugi who lightly smiled as she noticed him carrying the newest addition to their family.
"Ararara, anyone would be surprised seeing how well Kensei-kun is with Nari-chan."
"Whoever said a swordsman couldn't be a good older brother."
"Hahaha!"
Nariko laughed as Kensei held her up into the air as she happily held out her arms, feeling the wind brushing past her small body. Natsumi couldn't help smiling after seeing her stepson interacting with his half-sister who continued cheerfully laughing before looking at all the children gathered around in the training ground.
"My, I didn't think that Kensei-kun would gather such a grand number of people together."
"Well, it was by chance that I was able to meet this many people and come together like this," Kensei said taking a seat beside his gentle stepmother who continued watching as her son fought against Lars. "But, we're all glad that we were able to accommodate all the children here. Though, there are a lot of them spread out into different schools since it would be odd for them to be gathered into the same school. Most of them were surprised that'd be able to live a happier life and attend a school like normal."
"Sakura-chan once said that this land was formerly a normal land filled with spiritual power and the Amagiri Clan made it into a place meant to become a beacon of hope for people. And even though all the Amagiri Clan aren't here, I believe that Kensei-kun and his friends will continue with that belief."
"That's the idea."
Kensei said as he felt Nariko touching his cheek.
"Here Nii-san and Natsumi-san."
Soon enough, Claire arrived carrying tea and snacks resting on a plate.
"Thanks, Claire."
Kensei said picking up the tea that was made for him, while Natsumi picked up the one made for her.
"And here you go, Nari-chan~"
Claire said as she handed Nariko a bottle.
"…hahaha, Yae-Yae."
Nariko cheerfully called Claire that she was handed the bottle.
It didn't take long for Claire and the others to become attached to Nariko after Natsumi introduced them to her for the first time.
"Such an adorable and smart baby."
Claire said as she softly poked Nariko in her cheek, which caused the infant to giggle.
"Thanks, Claire-san. Also, I apologize for making such a sudden visit."
"It's no problem. I need to return to the kitchen. I think that we'll need a little more lunch for the kids after all their training is done for the day."
Claire said before rushing off back to the kitchen.
"My, Claire-san is surely attentive," Natsumi said as she sipped the tea made for her. "She would make a perfect wife, Kensei-kun. And based on how you're with Nari-chan, you'd make a great father."
"…cough…cough, why'd you bring that up?"
Kensei coughed up the tea that was already in his mouth, distracting Nariko a little bit before she started drinking her bottled milk again.
"Hahahaha, you're too much like Sakura-chan. Even in her younger days as the 'Demon', she was always easily riled up when I talked about something that she found 'unpleasant'," Natsumi laughed placing her teacup on the plate next to them before picking one of the snacks made for her. "When are you all leaving for your trip?"
Natsumi questioned since Kensei already informed her and his father about their trip to the Norse Faction ahead of time. It was so that neither would be worried if none of them was home if they decided to visit Kibou Town and spark concern.
"We're planning on leaving later on today. Zane thought that it would be best that we leave as soon as possible to get things done and he's sending magic doubles of ourselves that'll go to school in our place."
"Well, I don't know about letting my stepson play hooky with his friends, but I understand your reasons. I didn't think that you would be encountering norse gods of all things the moment I first met you as a baby."
"Yea, I did think about traveling around to other factions, but I never thought that it would be for something this important," Kensei said as he stared at Naoto who continued fighting against Lars. "I think that Naoto is getting a little bit more heated in training and gaining experience."
"Well, I think that he wants to become a good big brother for Nari-chan and someone she can rely on. Y'know the same that you were for him in the past? Just looking at both Naoto and Nari-chan, I can't help thinking that they'll be wonderful adults shortly."
"Yea, they'll be powerful without a doubt too. Isn't that right, Nari-chan?"
"Hahahaha, Nii-Nii."
"Do you sense something like a sacred gear in Nari-chan like Naoto and Akari-chan?"
"Yep, I don't know what it is. But, it feels more powerful than a normal one," Kensei said as he lifted Nariko in the air. "I guess that's what you would aspect from someone who has the blood of a samurai clan."
Kensei chuckled as Nariko finished waving her hands around laughing.
"I was talking to Tetsuo-san the other day and said that Nari-chan is going to grow into a beautiful young woman in the future. And when I mentioned all the guys who'll be going after her…."
"I'll cut down any man or potential pervert who comes within an inch of Nari-chan with extreme prejudice."
He replied as he glanced in Natsumi's direction wearing a serious blank look on his face, causing his stepmother to let out a nervous laugh.
"Ara, how predictable. Tetsuo-san didn't say anything about it, but I could tell by the look in his eyes that was the response that entered his mind."
"Hahaha, I guess I can't call that a normal rabbit anymore!"
"Well, you shouldn't underestimate my Lepi."
Kensei looked and noticed that both Akari and Jess, as well as Naoto and Lars, exited the barrier after their battle ended in a draw between both sides likely from exhaustion. Both of the girls were laughing with one another as if the two of them were longtime friends or comrades-in-arms.
"You were better than expected, Naoto-san. I guess that's to be expected from Kensei-sensei's little brother."
"I'm not at Aniki's level, but I want to go as far as I can wielding Yamato," Naoto replied as he looked at the sword in his hand before turning to face him. "Though, I didn't think that you'd knock away my katana like that with your bare hands like that. Does that move have a name?"
"Well, I decided to name is 'Dragon Pulse'. Before, I thought that it was a weak trait since it wasn't similar to what my clan uses, but Kensei-sensei said that I should pursue it and make it my own instead."
"Yea, that sounds like something that Aniki would say."
Kensei couldn't help but smile at the interaction between them as Nariko smiled toward her other older brother cheerfully.
"Nao-Nao."
"Hey, Nari-chan."
Naoto replied smiling as she grabbed onto his finger.
"Alright, lunch is prepared, everyone!"
Claire announced wearing an apron around her waist holding a pan in her hands, sparking an immediate reaction from the children who cheered at the lunch prepared for them.
Soon after, their training session ended, Natsumi, Naoto, and Akari returned home with a sleeping Nariko after all of them sent their farewells and luck on their trips. Kensei and the others leaving on their trip to the Norse Faction also returned to their homes to prepare. Inside of the Amagiri Residence, its residents found themselves sitting in the living room waiting for the others to arrive.
"Well, I believe that's everything prepared for our trip to the Norse Faction. Are you prepared Nii-san, Alice-nee?"
""Yes, mom.""
Both Kensei and Alice had replied in unison as their attention was caught from what their focus was on, causing the younger girl to shake her head.
"Well, I wouldn't like your mother if you two would act your age sometimes. Just think about what would happen if I decided to leave for a while. Would you two be able to take care of yourselves?"
Claire countered jokingly as she sat in-between them with her hands resting behind her head.
"Hahaha, very funny, Claire," Kensei dryly said. "I'm pretty sure that all the constant lessons from you about how to cook and clean since we started living together were enough."
"I just didn't want to return home and find the house a complete mess. Besides, I thought that it would be fun if all of had a tradition of switching from different meals once in a while."
"Well, I do want to eat some Italian cuisine once in a while."
Alice said as if she was going through some nostalgia, then Claire turned in her direction hugging onto her legs.
"Then would Alice-nee consider making some Italian food at some point?"
"Hmmm."
Alice tilted her head at the idea of cooking something by herself, but Claire and Kensei to a lesser extent started to stare in her direction.
"Please, Alice-nee. Cooking is something similar to art in itself."
Once she turned around to see the adorable pleading look on Claire's face, she had found herself unable to say anything else other than yes.
"Fine, you don't need to bring art into this though. It might be fun cooking something myself for a change," Alice replied. "Don't expect anything too much from me, though."
"Come on, Alice, you should be more confident in making something."
"Well, why don't try making something, Nii-san?"
"…well, I guess."
Kensei replied to the smirk on Claire's face as she turned around to stare at him, which caused his previous look of confidence to falter into a nervous one. This caused a light laugh to escape from Alice's and Claire's mouths. It wasn't until the three of them heard a knock on the door, which caused the laugh to escape from their mouths.
"I got it."
Kensei got up from the couch then started walking toward the front door and opened it, revealing Zane, Hisui, and Maria all dressed in regular clothing for their trip carrying around their bags, which were filled with their clothes for the trip. Seeing that all of them were prepared, Claire and Alice both started turning off the lights and other non-essential things before departing.
"Is everyone prepared for the trip?"
Zane questioned first as he stepped inside of the Amagiri Residence.
"We're prepared and ready to go."
Kensei replied after locking the door.
"Hello, Ken Ken."
"Good, afternoon everyone."
Hisui and Maria were the two to give their introduction as all three of them entered the living room to see the other two who would be joining them.
"Alright, I think that it would be better that we head out."
"Is there anything that we need to know before heading out?"
Maria questioned Zane as the six of them started to gather around in a group.
"We'll talk about things in more detail after going to my house first," Zane stated as he held out his hand creating a norse magic circle meant for teleportation underneath them. "Alright, we'll be heading off now."
"Yes, let's head out. This will be the first time that I'm going off on a trip with Ken Ken!"
Hisui excitedly said as she held out her arms.
Seeing that all of them were raring to go, Zane activated the magic circle underneath them causing a bright light that shined throughout the room before around them and the light vanished.
The six of them soon found themselves inside a forested area with a different atmosphere compared to Japan, which caused the nonnatives to look around. Before long, Maria had turned her attention to the black runestones a little taller than them, which has various unfamiliar runic letters engraved on them. Hisui and Kensei could feel a potent presence radiating from them.
"This has a familiar sensation compared to the torii gates before entering Urakyoto."
"Well, it's similar to that, but I think that it would be better to go through yourself."
Zane said as he started walking in the direction of the runestones before holding out his hand, causing a magical light to surround him, causing the runes on the stone to shine with the same light.
"What're you guys waiting for? You'd better hurry before you're left behind."
Zane questioned as he started walking forward, which stirred them to follow behind him as his figure vanished in front of their eyes and soon enough the five of them did too. Kensei, Alice, and Claire felt the same sensation the moment the three of them would enter Urakyoto and all of them found themselves in another world altogether.
"Welcome to Midgard."
The first thing that the five of them heard was Zane saying those words.
"Whoa."
Maria couldn't help letting a slight breath escape from her mouth as she noticed that the entire area was different from the one they were previously. There were several buildings big and small littered around the area alongside a large number of people dressed in norse fashion walking around as well.
"You said that we were in Midgard, right?"
"You likely heard the word Midgard in a lot of Japanese media such as games, right," Zane answered Hisui as he looked around feeling nostalgic after being in his home. "Think about it like this, the Norse World has three levels to it. At the third level, there is the Land of the Dead and Niflheim, the Ice Region. On the second level, there exists Midgard that also includes Northern Europe, but this is a special space. I'm a little surprised though."
"About what?"
Maria questioned confused.
"You were all excited about the buildings that you kinda overlooked the enormous tree."
Zane replied smiling pointing his thumb in the direction of the enormous tree, but enormous couldn't even start to describe its height.
[Whoa!]
All of them exclaimed, the enormous tree could be seen even from their general direction its circumference alone couldn't be determined, but its height was such as it seemed to pierce through the clouds leading to the heavens themselves. Neither of them could say anything in the presence of something this marvelous, all of them knew its name, but words couldn't describe seeing it for themselves.
"The World Tree, Yggdrasil."
Claire managed to utter those words as she stared at the Yggdrasil in all of its glory as Alice's eyes seemed to be sparking at the sight in front of her. It was as if the artist inside Alice was screaming at her to sketch out all the intricate designs and additions of the Yggdrasil.
"Y'know, the Yggdrasil would've been the first thing that people would've noticed after arriving here," Zane stated in a surprised tone. "The World Tree is one of the greatest treasures that exist in the Norse World, this space alone and several other things were created using the principles from the Yggdrasil. You could even say that most of all the things there are linked to it."
"This is amazing."
Maria who would be the main one among them to maintain their calm was caught in awe at the sight before them and allowed short breaths to escape from her mouth.
"Yea, I used to look at the Yggdrasil every single day since I was a kid," Zane said as he stared at the tree before their eyes. "Well, we should get going to my families' house. Or we might start attracting some attention from the people on the streets."
After being urged by Zane, all five of them started following behind him in the direction of his families' residence, which caused them to wonder what kind of place it was.
Along the way toward his house, Zane started receiving different positive comments from the Midgard civilians all ranging from:
'Hey, Zane, I see that you finally brought your friends from Japan.'
'Would you be interested in bringing them over to the shop for something to eat?'
'Yo, Zane would you hurry up and become legal so that we can show you how adults celebrate?'
Those were just some of the comments that he was receiving from the Midgard civilians who saw him, which caused a similar thought to manifest in their minds.
"I didn't think that the usual reclusive Zane would be this popular with people from his homeland."
All of them knew that though Zane was more or less talkative around them, he wasn't the same around either school or during a lot of his club activities. In most situations, he would give simple responses when working on a project during club activities even toward teachers and instructors. Although, neither of the teachers could deny that his grades were the definition of perfect scores all around.
"I guess that he's just different around his homeland."
"Well, here we are home sweet home. The Wayland Residence."
Zane declared as he pointed towards a large house at a much distance from the town, which could be referred to as a mansion, but neither of them saw Zane taking a step forward to the front door.
"Uh, aren't you going to knock on the front door?"
"Just give it a second."
"Give what a…."
Boom!
There was an explosion that blew the door off its hinges sending it a distance from the source almost like a rocket causing a notable thud as it landed on the ground. Everyone aside from Zane stared at what happened with a blank look on their face as a coughing sound could be heard from in front of the door.
"*Cough* *Cough* Didn't think the explosion would be that large, but it's at least some progress compared to last night. But, Anne's going to be mad that I blow off the front door again."
Walking out of the smoke was a black-haired middle-aged man wearing a strong resemblance to Zane, but with a well-built physique dressed in clothing that one would expect from a blacksmith or hands-on worker.
"Looks like it got some distance this time around."
A hearty laugh escaped from the man's mouth as he scratched his head.
"I don't think that mom would think the same thing, dad."
After hearing a familiar voice in front of him, the man stared forward noticing Zane alongside his stumped friends all staring in his direction.
"Hahaha, look at what we have here. I wasn't expecting you this soon."
Seeing Zane in front of him, the man let out a hearty smirk as he energetically approached him, then a strong smack from his hand caused the younger man to fall forward a bit.
"If I had known that you were coming, then I would have at least held off that experiment."
"Dad, you still have trouble holding back."
Zane groaned as he felt his father smacking his back repeatedly, but his father stopped as he looked and noticed Kensei and the others standing beside him.
"Oh, you all must be the friends that he was talking about. Sup, my name is Smith Wayland," Smith said before his grin started turning into a laugh. "Hahaha, no matter how many times I say it out loud, I still can't believe that my old man named me that! My ancestor was called Wayland the Smith and I'm Smith Wayland!"
Kensei and the others couldn't help laughing at the energy radiating from the man.
"My name's Kensei Amagiri."
"My name is Claire Yaegaki Belial."
"I'm Alice Evangelista."
"My name is Maria Lancelot. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Hey, I'm Hisui Aozaki~"
All five of them introduced themselves one by one as Smith stared at them impressed.
"Well, I'm happy to see that our Zane made some interesting friends in Japan," Smith said before feeling a slight chill that ran across his spine. "Look at the time, I think that I have some important business…uh, somewhere far from this immediate area. Zane, you should show your friends…gah."
Before he could finish, a projectile was launched from outside of the house cutting through the black smoke and soon came in contact with the back of Smith's head hard. The impact alone could be heard from all six of them, which also caused the full-grown man to fall forward unconscious as blood started leaking from his head. All of them realized the projectile was a thick metal mallet large enough to crack a normal person's skull.
"Z-Zane if your dad…"
"Nah, you'll need to do something a lot more to kill him."
Zane replied to Claire's question nonchalantly almost as if it was a regular occurrence.
"Smith! You're not getting away that easily! Zane is coming back home and if this door isn't fixed by then I'll….!"
Walking out from the door passed the black smoke was a beautiful woman with long auburn hair and red eyes of a similar shade to Zane's dressed in a fashion like most housewives, but wearing a fierce look on her face. All five of them could sense the presence radiating from her, but all that vanished in almost an instant. Her expression soon softened after seeing Zane and his friend standing in front of his still unconscious father.
"Ah, I didn't think that my little genius would return this early~"
His mother, Anne, as his father called her started running in the direction of her child, even stopping onto the back of her unconscious husband. A "Urgh" escaped from his mouth as she stomped uncaringly on his back and wrapped her arms around Zane lovingly.
"Aw, my Little Zane," that nickname caused embarrassment in Zane as he could hear Kensei and the others laughing silently. "You should've called ahead of time, then I could have ensured that your silly little father didn't blow up the front door and your return home would've been perfect."
"It's fine mom. After a long time, I kinda got used to dad causing random explosions. Besides, I'm not exactly one to talk since I caused my own once in a while."
"But, when Zane causes explosions they're so cute and wonderful."
"How're explosions cute?"
Kensei and the others shared the same thought, more so since most of them were caught in those explosions at one time or another. All of them also realized that his parents were unique in their way.
After the small incident involving Zane and his parents, his father repaired the door and his mother cleaned up a lot of the mess caused by the explosion. Once all that was finished, all six of them counting Smith were sitting at the dinner table, his injuries being notably bandaged and sealed by Hisui. Anne was putting different foods on the table in front of them cheerfully at the return of her son.
"So, Dad, what were you trying to do?"
"Well, your old man received a special request from a member of the Valkyrie Squad for a fire magic sword today, but I infused too much into the sword. I wasn't given a set time for it to be completed so I thought that I would test out a newer method that I thought of. And I guess that it came out generating that large explosion."
"Valkyrie?"
Maria questioned recalling hearing that term before.
"Oh, didn't Zane explain the Valkyrie before you all arrived here? The Valkyrie Squad is a unique composed of female warriors, half-gods who trains in Asgard to serve the Norse Gods. However, due to the recent decline of heroes as of late, a lot of their previous funding has been cut, which means that blacksmiths like me rarely receive requests from them compared to before."
Smith explained as he stared at them.
"Female warriors and half-gods, huh."
Kensei said feeling a little interesting in meeting valkyrie, which didn't go unnoticed by Zane's father, however, it was misinterpreted as something else.
"Ah, I can see you're interested in the members of the Valkyrie Squad, huh. You should know that all of them are beautiful, but most of them don't have boyfriends since most are too busy or focused on business to look for one. Most of them are a little bitter about that fact."
"I don't think that Kensei was interesting in them like that, dad. He's interested in fighting against them due to the valkyrie being half-gods."
"Ah, a battle maniac, I see."
Smith surmised as he laughed lightly and recalled meeting battle maniacs in the past.
"Yep, that Nii-san in a nutshell."
"Right."
"Basically."
"But, that's what we love most about Ken Ken."
"Watch it."
Kensei said as he stared in the directions of his so-called friends as they started talking about him.
"Hahaha, I love you guys' dynamic. I can tell that all of you have been through something terrible, especially after hearing about it in detail after Zane returned home for a while."
Smith's expression went a little darker after realizing the experience that his son went through all that time on Hagun Island alone. But, he was happy to see that he had good friends who were alongside him.
"I swear if I find the people who did that to my darling genius, then I'll ram a hammer so far up their…."
"Hey, mom is that your famous stew?"
Hearing Zane's question caused her demeanor to change into a more warming one as she smiled towards him.
"Yes, I thought that you would like to have your favorite stew after returning home after a long time."
"It's a wonder how she switches from being harsh and kind at a moment's notice."
Maria stated as Hisui started laughing a little.
"What's so funny, Hisui?"
"It's just so cute."
"What?"
"I think that it's cute that Zane named Magus Akashic's index after his mother."
"W-What?"
Zane seemed embarrassed after listening in to the conversation between Maria and Hisui.
"I mean, you did name it Annelisse. And your mother's name is Anne."
"Aw, was my little genius thinking about his gentle and wonderful mother?"
Not a single response came from Zane as he continued eating from the stew that his mother made in silence and that alone caused a laugh to escape from her mouth. Anne's expression turned truly happy after hearing that from his friends and that her son named something after her. A faint blush could be seen forming on Zane's cheeks, while he continued to eat his food.
"Speaking of which, are you having any trouble with that grimoire?"
His father questioned slightly worried.
"Not, actually, Annelisse has proven to be a great help in a lot of my research and inventing different things. I don't even feel the usual aftereffects before."
"Oh, would you like to tell your old man what you've been working on lately?"
"Well, here's one thing."
Zane reached inside his pocket and pulled out his personal Oracle Smartphone, which caught the attention of his father who seemed interested in the device.
"Huh, I see, is this a device that combines magic and science."
"Do you know what this is dad?"
Zane questioned not recalling that his father wasn't the best person when it came to modern technologies, but it didn't mean that he was incompetent.
"Of course, it's one of those communication devices that doesn't require magic, but I believe that using magic is a lot better."
"Yea, I based this invention off the usual communication magic and added in a lot of things that make is better than the modern smartphones."
"Hahaha, I thought that you would progress in ways that I wouldn't be able to understand."
Zane couldn't help laughing at the reaction from his father as his mother took a seat next to them, but he noticed that the amount of food matched with the number of people around the table. He made a confused expression as if he was expecting more people to come to the table.
"Yea, by the way, isn't there anyone else here?"
"Everyone has been busier lately," his mother replied before his father could talk. "For example, your grandfather and uncle left to talk to the dwarves with your both cousins. Your eldest brother, Albert pretty much lives inside of another region in Europe with his recently wedded wife. And your older brother, Eric hasn't been home in a long time since he has been seeing an elf. Ah, I'm happy that my children found their soulmates."
Anne started gushing more and more at the thought of her oldest sons finding a love of their own, which sparked a reaction from Zane.
"Right, that makes sense, everyone is always busy with their things," Zane said before recalling what she said. "I didn't hear that Albert got married."
"He said that he contacted you once about it, but you didn't respond."
Zane was surprised about that since he doesn't remember getting a message from his mother, but he thought that it was likely during one of the times when he was too caught up in an experiment or research.
"Right, your brothers had a message for you."
After hearing that from him, Zane glanced towards his father worried about the message from his brothers as his father coughed into his hand.
"Albert and Eric said, 'Tell that brat who doesn't visit or call his family except at random times not to ask us for favors until he learned how to communicate with others'."
Zane couldn't help but laugh nervously imagining his older brothers saying those words to him as harshly as possible.
"That's just how Albert and Eric show that they're just worried about their little brother. Besides, if Zane does need a hand or favor, then they'll assist him in any way possible."
Anne said feeling genuinely confident about how her oldest sons truly felt toward their younger brother.
"Well, at least we know that Zane isn't the only one with an overly doting relative."
Hisui said laughing lightly amused about the situation.
All of them continued eating their food in silence, all of them enjoying either the new or nostalgic taste that touched their tastebuds. Claire was enjoying the food since it was one of the first times she didn't have to cook herself and it made her want to talk recipes with Anne.
"I think that it would be best that you all be well-rested for tomorrow morning for your meeting with Lord Odin."
"Wouldn't it be weird if a bunch of teens leaves to meet up with a god?"
Maria questioned after looking toward Zane's parents.
"He's expecting you all either way," Smith said. "In the past, it would've been almost impossible to get a meeting with Lord Odin, especially with people from other factions. I heard from some of the valkyries that he's starting to consider getting into contact with some of the more peaceful factions and here came the chance in meeting someone who was from one of them. And I heard that he has some important info to relay to you about that grimoire of yours."
"The Magus Akashic."
"Well, he had a hint about what it was in the past after first seeing, but finally got some genuine information about it. Lord Odin would want to talk about it at some point during your meeting with him."
Hearing that sparked more interest in meeting Odin, but before anything else could be said, his mother came up with a suggestion for them.
"Well, before you all make plans for your meeting with Lord Odin. I think that it would be best that all of you take some time to rest for the rest of the evening and have the meeting tomorrow," Anne suggested to them wearing a cheerful demeanor as she clapped her hands together. "So, after we all get cleaned up. Why don't we convene in the living room and share some stories? I've been waiting to tell some stories about my little Zane."
"W-What?!"
"Yea, it would be fun hearing about 'Little Zane'."
"Same here."
"Hehehe."
Maria, Kensei, and Hisui all gave their replies as Alice and Claire chuckled at the idea.
"You're all traitors!"
Zane replied as he glared at all of them wearing a betrayed expression on his face as his friends laughed at the idea of hearing stories about his past. Despite all that, everyone was looking forward to seeing what would occur next during their first official meeting with a Chief-God in person.
A/N: And there goes the twenty-third chapter of DxD – The Last Amagiri, in this chapter there was a large surprise with the new addition to the Uesugi Household with the addition of Nariko Uesugi, Naoto's little sister and Kensei's youngest half-sibling. Well, it has been three years so, it wouldn't be surprising that a new child would be born between his father and stepmother.
In this chapter, there was a training session involving all of the grown children in the Amagiri Clan's Main Shine where some original sacred gears and traits that I thought of. Naoto's and Akari's Spiritus Armiger, for example, is an original one that manifests a person's weapon from their soul
Kensei, Alice, Claire, Hisui, Maria, and Zane left for their trip to the Norse Faction where they met both of his more or less doting parents much to his embarrassment. Well, I wonder what would end up occurring during their trip to the Norse Faction?
So, until next time.
Kensei's Harem: Alice, Claire, Hisui, Kunou, Yasaka, Lu Lingqi, Mirana, Sarah, Minako, Koneko, Kuroka, Ravel, Amaterasu, Brynhildr.