Chapter 76 - Issei's Test: Part 2

{Esau's POV:}

Looking at the fireball the Young Master just released I didn't think much of it and cut it with a wind blade. The moment the fireball was cut in two I expected it to disappear but instead, it seemed to grow in mass while the fire energy in the surroundings started to run ramped. All it took was an instant for the fireball to explode but at that moment I used magic to seal the flames within a small barrier.

*BOOM!!!!*

"Arrgh!," I grunted as the impact from the blast was more than I expected to cause me to miscalculate in creating my barrier leaving me with light internal injuries, "I didn't expect that, to think your fire magic had progressed to such a degree. While I will commend your quick thinking, I must say that using that in a public area is a bit rash."

After fixing up my attire I began looking at the surrounding. Because my barrier was weakened a little when my magic became unstable some of the contained fire escaped and had landed on the surrounding building. Even I was hit by some of the Young Master's flames but, due to years of training my fire resistance, my clothes were the only thing on my body that received damage.

The same, however, couldn't be said for the surrounding buildings. Since the fire exploded without inside a residential area most of the buildings caught on fire. Taking a moment to subdue the flames with wind magic I returned my focus towards the barrier but, no matter how long I waited nothing happened. When I tried sensing any lifeforms in the surrounding area I found none.

"He couldn't have killed himself right?" I thought while forcefully dispelling the fire energy within the barrier and looking inside only to find that instead of a charred up corpse there was instead a medium-sized crater where the Young Master.

"Cheeky bastard," I said as my lips twitched realizing I had been tricked, "Using the flames as a diversion to escape. I didn't expect him to come up with a strategy like that very impressive, but it'll take more than that to run away from me."

Chanting another incantation I implanted a few orders into their subconscious. Once that was over I sent them away and they all jumped into the crater in chase of the Young Master. I was also going to follow and give chase but before I could I felt the presence of multiple devils. Judging from the aura signatures two of them were pure-blooded devils while the others were lower class devils. Most likely they came over to investigate the sudden spike in fire energy in the area.

"Now how will I deal with this?" I wondered before receiving a message from His Highness

"Esau it's me, don't worry about them I'll take care of it. You just need to focus on the task at hand."

"I understand," I replied before jumping into the crater without looking back.

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{Ddraig's POV:}

Using the impact from the explosion spell as a diversion Issei powered up the attack power in his fist before striking the ground. What awaited him there was a large sewage system which he used to escape. Honestly, I'm impressed I didn't expect there to be a sewage system in such a small road.

"Not bad partner," I said, "but how did you know there was a sewage system below us?"

"Hahaha. It was all luck," Issei said while scratching his cheek, "To be honest I can't believe that worked. I saw it in a manga a while back and decided well might as well give it a try. To think it worked hahaha."

"...Ddraig?"

"Ha~," I sighed, "I don't know if you're a genius for escaping or an idiot for copying a manga. For now, you should get out of here immediately, use that skill I though you."

"Ah…okay," Issei said with a hesitant tone

Since entering this sewage system Issei had been sprinting to get away, but in my opinion, he's going too slow. So rather than having him run I had him use a special skill I had him learn. This skill used the powers of the boosted gear to make a partial balance breaker having wings appear on his back.

Unlike fully conjuring up the boosted gears balance breaker this partial manifestation is easier to use and doesn't use up too much mana. It was the perfect skill my past host's used when the couldn't use their balance breaker. Unfortunately, Issei is a special case in the fact that he can only manifest wings and to top it off he can't yet fully handle the ten times added speed.

"Hey Ddraig," Issei said after getting used to eight-times his usual speed, "you got any ideas on what to do now?"

"First let's see what we know about that vampire," I said analyzing our previous interaction with the vampire name Esau, "He seems to be proficient in dark magic as well as wind magic. Then there are his vampire natural traits which are in there own way very troublesome."

"How so?"

"Well judging from his strength it wouldn't be wrong to ȧssume he has a [Bloody Household]."

"A [Bloody Household] is when I high-level noble vampire reaches a power level where their blood can be used to create their servants. If that vampire Esau can use that technique that means he's at or beyond Ultimate rank."

"Can all vampires use that?"

"No they can only be used by vampires that meet certain conditions," I said remembering fighting against strong vampires with a [Bloody Household]

"And those conditions are?"

"No idea."

"Shit!" He cursed, "So basically I'm screwed?"

"Under normal condition yes," I replied immediately, "Currently, even with your balance breaker on at most, you can fight high-level opponents, but ultimate rank is beyond you. Begins at that level beings have shed their mortal shell and become something much more than what they previously were. You, however, are not at that level yet"

Hearing my reply Issei's face sunk as the thought of dying had finally hit him. Even from the sacred gear, I could feel his anxiety, fear, and depression. If this keeps up his spirit might break and he'll lose himself in depression.

"Calm down partner," I said trying to bring him back to reality, "Remember what I said he's here to test you, not kill you. While dying isn't a major concern now it is best to keep that thought in the back of your head. Right now escape is your only bet in surviving until noon, choose your battles wisely. If you can beat them try it could be good practice, but if you can't run. Dying would be the worst for both of us."

"Your right," He said picking up speed, "It's not like I will have a peaceful life since I own the Boosted Gear. I'll have to experience things like this in the future, if I can survive this I'll use it as a stepping stone to go further in life. Getting scared now isn't going to help anyone."

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{Esau's POV:}

It didn't take long for me to catch up to the Young Master and my [Bloody Household] was about to engage him but I stopped them before they could. The reason was that he seemed to be deep in conversation with the Red Dragon Emperor. For moment anxiety, fear, and depression could be seen painted on his face.

At that moment I thought he was going to give up, but then Ddraig spoke a few words and the Young Master's gaze changed. From what I saw the naive boy who knew nothing of the world, had found his resolve. The resolve to live in this world he's found himself in, a world full of dangers at every corner.

"Well then Young Master," I said with a smile on my face, "Let's test your resolve."