Chapter 12:

Chapter 12:

Terribly sorry for those who follow my (P) atreon account. Life has been difficult and I can't really get anything concrete done. On the other hand, my second nephew just born nearly a week ago, so things became even more hectic. Nevertheless, the Phenex arc is concluded in my original draft and I'm in the middle of writing the closing act with i4md347h. Without further ado, enjoy!

The sun watched the scene from the blue ceiling, down on the black creature scratching his rear and the blonde knight standing across it. Asia held Rover in her arms as the Devils stood on the side, Issei standing in between the two participants as their coach.

"Just a reminder, this test is to see how you perform individually. As for rules of engagement, the spar will end if either of you surrenders, can't fight anymore, or I intervene. Any questions?" Issei began, as he stood between Black and Yto.Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

"I am fine." Yto shook his head as he regarded his opponent with meticulous scrutiny. The creature was a dwarf, even shorter than Koneko and Gasper. But looking back at Issei's stories about the creature 'sparring' with him, seeing the creature's ability to somewhat 'multiply,' and Black's mention of having a million lives, the Knight chose to stand cautious.

"Alright. Just so you know, don't worry about killing him. Cut him however you want. Now, begin!" The fight commenced, Issei stepping back to the side, joining the spectators as Yto conjured a demon sword in his hand and aimed it at Black.

As Yto stared down his opponent, the said creature casually picked his nose in front of Yto without iota of tension or nervousness even after Issei had announced the match had begun.

"What? Are you gonna stand there and dawdle or come at me?" Black flicked the booger at the grass.

The spectators, sans Issei weren't sure whether Black was that confident in their abilities or really good at disarming their expectations.

"Come on, amuse me, pretty boy. I ain't got all day," Black urged with a hint of boredom.

"...Please take care of me."

Kicking off the grass, after five steps, the swift Knight brought his blade horizontally to Black's forehead, so close to touching, yet the bite of his sword failed to touch as Black threw his head arching in limbo, the creature slowly watching the blade fly overhead as Yto slowed behind him.

Stomping purchase, Yto turned around to see Black looking back at him upside down from his position.

"What? That's the best you got?" Black asked as he picked his nose again in that position, lazily looking at Yto from his limbo position, his arched upside down.

Yto narrowed his eyes at Black as he pulled back his blade, both hands on the handle with his black aligned with the ground.

Reengaging, Yto swung a flurry at Black, circling him with his speed to cut at him from all angles.

However, they all missed. Front, back, a side swing aiming to decapitate his head, Black casually evaded it all in a hair's breadth while picking his nose, jumping over his blade, shifting his body, and running through Yto's legs.

The creature's nimble movement did not surprise the audience, but the fact that it could mock Yto with its contemptuous ease of movement spoke volumes of its aptitude.

The agitation started to creep in Yto, his swings and thrusts becoming more frantic. Nevertheless, Black was not even winded as he kept evading every single attack.

"Alright, I'm bored." Black said as he threw another of his booger at the grass as he did not bother to move when Yto's downward slash cleaved him in two, bisecting Black vertically much to Yto's shock.

"Eh?" Yto watched as his sword slid through Black with ease, two halves staring back at him and then the halves grew into two fully complete, grinning Blacks.

Yto started to realize what Issei meant by 'killing Black a million times' now.

"Time for the fun to start." One Black smacked his stubby hands together.

"Been a while since I had a swordsman punching bag." Another Black snickered ominously.

Before Yto could respond, a giant arm, a ridiculously muscular arm about three times Yto's height with equally ridiculous length and girth sprouted from Black's body. Although sprouting was more of an understatement.

It was more like the entire upper half of his body reformed into a very, very large arm while his legs remained, making Black look like a giant arm on two little legs.

"Uh" Yto sweat-dropped a little as he stared at the oversized muscular appendage, realizing that he might have bargained more than he could swallow. The sudden peripeteia made the Devils gawp, the sudden birth of the massively disproportionate limb robbing them speechless.

Yto could not finish his sentence when the giant arm grabbed his head before he knew it. The next second, the Black was slamming Yto to the ground several times, the sight garnering 'ooooh's from the Devils as they watched Black bash Yto into the grass repeatedly like a child trying to break its toy with a hammer.

By the time Black had released his grip, dropping him to the floor, Yto was a bleeding, bruising mess struggling to get back on his feet.

Seeing his opponent was seemingly down for the count, Black scowled.

"The hell? That's it? All I did was just slam you like a potato sack and that takes the wind out of ya?"

Yto took a deep breath to muster what was left of his strength to stand back up, and with a burst of speed, he immediately vanished.

"Huh. That's more-" Before the right Black could have commented, his body was suddenly cut into a few chunks, a fate shared by his other counterpart.

Yto panted heavily as he watched his handiwork. However, to Yto's horror, each piece immediately grew into another Black, resulting in a pack surrounding him, a pack of Blacks with oppressive smiles that promised painful dread, each smile conveying the hopelessness of his efforts.

"You still good to go, Kiba?" Issei shouted from the side.

Truth to be told, Yto was already exhausted from the beating he took, but he could still go on - he could still push himself further. Tightening the grip on his sword, Yto charged once again and slashed as many black creatures as he could.

"Issei" Rias asked from where she stood. "How many times can you know" She gestured at the creature, who just multiplied into another three clones of himself.

"More than a million," Issei mentioned. "I did say this, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but" Rias had difficulty processing the Black's display of multiplying seemingly without end. "Seeing it is another story in itself."

"Yeah, I hear you." Issei knew the feeling when he first fought Black.

"Oaaah!" Yto continued hacking at the Blacks, yet his black foe continued to spawn more blacks from the pieces it left. Thus, changing tactics, Kiba grimaced as he switched to Ice and Fire swords, hoping to freeze and burn each clone, as he resumed cutting the creatures, but to his dismay, it did not do much as the ice shattered and the flames dispersed, unable to deal enough damage to the multiplying creatures.

"Ahahahaha! Wow, a magic swordsman with tricks! Now that's entertainment!" One of the Blacks laughed along with the other clones.

Yto grimaced as the small army of Blacks started to dance, some making ridiculous poses atop of its fellows' heads as if mocking him.

"...Is there any way I can beat you?" Yto asked, almost jokingly at the seemingly hopeless situation.

The Black creatures actually paused for a moment to ponder about his question. However, the creatures only smirked in reply.

"Hah! No."

"You're in for a party, pretty boy!"

"Your magic swords might have done a number on me in my early days, but I've leveled up!"

Each Black answered as they continued their ridiculous posing and dances around the Knight.

In return, Yto grimaced - he was not sure what to do at this point as the Blacks started to gang up on him.

"Run, Yto-senpai!" Koneko shouted as Yto turned to flee, but one Black sprouted a very long arm and grabbed his leg.

"Come here, pretty boy!" With smiling teeth, Black shouted as he yanked Yto in, dropping him on his stomach and dragging him into the Black mass.

"Wait, stop!" Yto shouted as the swarm of Blacks raised him, one larger than a bear holding Kiba's arms and another Black holding his legs together, both trapping him in a crucified position, arms and legs held together in a T-Pose.

"Let go of me!" Yto yelled as he squirmed as he watched the other Blacks form a frisky conga line, each dancing towards Yto.

"Ah, crap." Issei sighed, knowing what Black was going to do.

"Step right up towards the free pretty pinata! Hit the candy bag and you might get a prize, starting with the low, low price of one punch per me!" The Blacks holding him shouted as each Black merrily danced to Yto one by one, punching him in the stomach one after another.

The fight had turned into a one-sided beating, as Yto could not do anything but take every single punch from several dozens of Blacks in a rank and file line.

However, before things could have escalated further...

"Alright, Black, you had your fun! Drop him down before I tell mom about you!" Issei shouted, stepping in.

"Pfff Fiiinnne." The Blacks rolled their eyes simultaneously as they dropped Yto before they returned to a singular mass. Issei, with Rias following behind with a worried look, knelt down to have a better look at the downed Knight.

"Hey, Kiba! Kiba! You with me?" Issei shouted as he looked at his condition.

The knight war curled up, clutching his stomach in pain. He could feel his stomach acid threatening to escape his throat as he gagged a little.

"P-President I'm sorry." Yto gave his King a weak smile.

"Don't worry; you'll be alright. Asia!" Confirming that Yto was still conscious, Issei called out the medic.

The healer put Rover down and dutifully ran towards and knelt beside the injured Knight, placing her hands over him and allowed Twilight Healing to heal his wounds. Yto groaned as the radiant light washed over him, spreading a warm feeling as he felt his pain alleviating as his bruises healed.

"So, Kiba how's the Black experience?" Issei asked the knight with a wry knowing smile.

"...Unexpected." Yto worded the sum total of his experience. "Unfair and you knew this would happen, didn't you?" Yto asked.

"Yeah, I kinda don't want to break your spirit. Best you find out his dreaded conga line mashup yourself," Issei chuckled.

He would always complain whenever Black spam copy-paste himself whenever Issei tried to blow him apart. Black was the only guy that taught how important it was to not a single piece of a corpse behind when killing monsters by turning Issei into a pinata for his copies to whack.

"Never look down on the small one, kid," Black interjected as he walked up to Yto.

"I understand was the humiliation necessary, though?" Yto asked.

"Yep." Black smirked mischievously.

Issei rolled his eyes at Black's devious prank. "So? How'd he do?" He asked.

Black's smile fell as he scratched his butt.

"Eh. You want the full summary or just a preview?" Black asked.

"Well, a short summary will do. What's his grade, Black?" Issei shrugged.

Rias, Akeno and Koneko looked at Black, waiting for his assessment of Yto.

"If you want a pro's take, I say pretty boy needs some work-out." Black pointed a thumb over his shoulder at Yto. "He's fast and got good tricks, but no real finish if you know what I mean."

Yto could not argue against Black's words. He had failed to take out a single one of his clones and they just multiplied without end before they turned him into a crucified pinata.

"Ahaha I understand." The Knight could only lower his head in embarrassment.

"Yeah, I think I get what you mean." Issei nodded. "...And I guess we know what you need to work on during this training, Kiba."

The Knight met Issei's eyes and nodded.

Once Rias and Asia escorted Yto to the side, Issei then turned to address the others.

"Okay, who wants to go next?"

"I do."

Everyone turned to see Rias, who just finished attending her Knight, stepped forward. "I believe it is only right for me, as a King, to see this challenge myself."

Black and Issei shot eyes at each other before giving Rias their attention.

"Uh, are you sure? Are you looking down on him?" Issei asked Rias out of concern.

"You better not be looking down on me, lassie." Black warned Rias.

"Dear me, no. I have seen enough to know that Black is formidable." Rias waved his hand disarmingly. "As a matter of fact, however, I would like to test myself against you." Her teal eyes turned to Issei, who blinked in return. Issei looked left and right, then pointed at himself confused.

"Me?"

"Yes. I wish to spar with you, Issei. I want to see where I lack as a King." Rias affirmed with a nod.

Issei only glanced at Black, who shrugged in return. Rias' Peerage exchanged some worried glances, Akeno glancing at the healing Yto while Koneko looked at Rias with a worried gaze.

"Alright." He said as he stepped onto the stage with the heiress in tow, both standing with considerable distance between them, both facing each other. Issei stood casually with his arms down on his sides while Rias tightened her hand into balls, nervousness wracking the latter.

Taking the roll of the referee, Black stood between them and coughed into his hand a little.

"Okay, I'm not gonna repeat what the kid said about the rules, blah, blah, blah, just know when you can and have to stop. Any questions? No? Good." He spoke without waiting for anyone's interruptions. "...Begin!"

Rias immediately charged her signature Power of Destruction and fired a ball of demonic power to where Issei stood.

Issei tilted left, allowing the black sphere to hit the ground past him before he leaned forward in a bursting sprint, quickly covering the distance until he was face to face with his left fist thrown, his knuckle stopping inches before Rias' eyes, resulting a gust of wind hitting her face, billowing her crimson hair behind.

Watching Rias, Issei saw her pupils dilated, her throat swallowing a lump with her gaze locked onto his duke. He could feel her heavy breaths on his knuckle.

"Yeah, I kind of expected this." Issei commented as he shot a glance behind, noting that the ground had been reduced into a hollow cavity, a scar burrowed in the luxurious front yard.

"...While I admit you have more firepower than Diodora, you're still pretty much no good in one-on-one against a brawler. Who knows how to dodge." Issei added the last part.

"Let's try again." Issei pursed his lips as he slowly took steps back to his spot. "This time, think of another angle. If you keep this up, you won't stand a chance in the long run."

Rias prepared herself again once Issei gave her a nod. Issei stood back on his spot, glancing at Black.

"Alright. Round two of Scarlet vs Kid, begin!" Black announced.

Food steamed on the table, baked potatoes and the iconic curry on rice situated on plates with their aromas tingling the inhabitants' noses. The full moon light watched from the window as Black brought the plates to the large table, the last plate of spaghetti before joining the occupants.

Safe for Issei, Black, and Asia - those sitting on the table were pretty much dead on their feet.

Most of their injuries had been healed courtesy of Asia, but her Twilight Healing could not cure exhaustion or muscle atrophy. It was quite a miracle for the girls to be still capable of cooking the meals for dinner, even with Issei and Asia's help. Even despite their hunger, they were still exhausted to the point of barely finishing their meal.

"Alright, that's all of them. You ready to begin?" Black burped in satisfaction of the food before he asked the Devils, smiling impishly.

"Right, so let's go over what we learned today." Issei began. "I will begin by. Rating the best to the worst so far. By the way, Black is also in on this."

Everyone had finished their meal and was looking at him with full attention.

"The pecking order from top to bottom is.. Catherine, Akeno, Yto, Amanda, Tsubasa, Koneko, Saji, and Rias."

The devils took the assessment to varying degrees. However, Rias blinked as she was confused.

"H-Hey." Saji raised his hand. "Why am I in the bottom with Rias?"

"Uh, there are issues with you. You main schtick is lassoing others with your gecko tongue and hope for the best which is kind of lack-luster." Issei scratched his head nervously. "It's like you're asking for a beatdown, you know?"

"But a-are you sure that I did that bad?" Rias asked in turn.

Issei turned to Rias and pursed his lips, his fingers rapping the table.

"Hard truth? You remind me of Diodora." Issei broke the news.

Rias grimaced at the mention of that name.

"I'm nothing like him" Rias scowled.

"Poor dynamic reflex." Issei pointed at her arms. "Casual disregard for danger, wandering gaze, rote habits Sure, you pack more firepower than Diodora, but you have the rest of his bad habits. In short, you've never been in a real fight."

"Yes, I have! I've been hunting strays!" Rias countered.

"You and your peerage were hunting strays." Issei retorted. "...And let me ask you this. What did you do during those past hunts?"

"Well, I" Rias paused for a second. "I made sure that all of us could make it out alive and unharmed."

"That's good, but what did you do, actually? Did you fight the Strays head on? Have you ever been in solo spars before?"

"No, but I learned how to use my power from my mother and Grayfia." Rias deflected, her confidence waning in her tone as Issei sighed.

"That's the thing. You rely on your magic, not everything you have. You fight like someone in a point-and-click shooter game trying to fit into a fighting game. Very like Diodora."

Rias' scowl deepened, yet not another word came out as she hung her head down seemingly in shame.

Then, Issei addressed the rest. "Moving on to Koneko. I have to say There's nothing too special about your arsenals so far. No offence."

In response, the petite girl only scoffed without a word.

"But you're a decent brawler, unlike Saji."

"Hey!" Saji yelled.

"Oh, come on. How can I not say that after watching Black gang up on you?" Issei referred to how Saji wailed when the Black army kicked him while he was down, all smirking and laughing as the rest watched with pity.

Koneko still pouted at the human boy, but she still accepted the small compliment with her nod.

"Anyways, I know what to work on. Black can help you-"

"I don't want to." Koneko pouted. "He is evil incarnate. I don't want to train with him."

"Aww, I've been rejected. However will I move on?" Black snickered dramatically.

Issei rolled his eyes from the comical interaction. "Alright, so only Saji, Yto and Rias will train with Black-"

"Objection." Rias shook her head. "I refuse to train with that thing."

"...Alright, Akeno-"

"No." Akeno shot him down. "I share Rias' dissent."

"...Saji-"

"No. No no no no-"

"Denied." Issei shook his head.

"Oh come on! Why are you fine with the ladies only?!" Saji shouted, pointing at Rias and the others.

"One, Black is here for a reason, and I need someone to spar with him. And two, to be fair, Kiba will be with you. That alright with you, Kiba?" Issei asked the Knight in question.

"...I guess I'll take what I can get." Yto replied with a hint of resignation in his tone.

"But nothing we can do can hurt that thing! That thing is unfair incarnate!" Saji whined.

"Yes, and the fact that Black can literally make your Sacred Gear useless as he beat you down is the reason why. I promised Sona that I will beat you into shape, and I will not return until I make you a Pawn she will fawn over."

"What I ugggh." Saji grumbled as he hung his head defeated. Asia smiled at Saji weakly, giving him her condolences.

"You dare call me that!?"

"Get over here, you little turd!"

Hearing their spirited replies, Asia smiled and gave a quick bow before she went to catch up with the rest.

oXo

Dinner finished cooking, Koneko and the others set the steaming plates of rice, vegetables, and meat down while those with free hands set up the chairs and tableware.

Asia looked outside and noticed the sky had darkened - Issei, Black and Rover should have returned by now.

Her question was answered at the sound of someone walking through the front door, a boy, a dog, and his alien friend.

Asia herself was horrified that she lost her grip on the set of utensils she was holding. "Mr. Ise!"

"Heeeeyyy We're back." Issei greeted with a hoarse voice from atop Rover.

Rover paddled in, carrying Issei on its back as Black walked beside them to Asia. Many injuries sported the boy from clothes to skin; bruises, cuts and blood marred his exposed epidermis with some parts of his face swelling.

As soon as Rover lowered itself to the floor, Asia was the first to move.

"Mr. Ise, please hold on!" Asia ran over and proceeded to activate her Twilight Healing, only for Black to step in her way.

"Mr. Black?"

"Sorry for getting in the way, lass. Not my call," Black held his hand up at her.

"...Eh?" Asia blinked as she looked up to the thoroughly beaten boy. "B-But he needs m-medical attention!" Asia frantically blurted, pointing out Issei's severe injuries.

"Yeah, I know that lassie, but the kid's kind of crazy. Get this one, the kid wants to practice 'healing' himself up. With that gauntlet thing." Black placed emphasis on the word 'heal' with air quotes for effect.

"...What?" Rias asked as she also approached. "Sorry, but. What?" She asked again with a narrowed look in confusion.

"He would explain, but he's too beaten up to talk, so I'll narrate his moronic idea. Basically, the short version, he wants to 'Boost' his recovery rate. Well, he wants to see if he can double his 'health regen' in game slang, but you get the point." Black walked aside with an arm presenting the weakly smiling Issei, not caring about his blue eye or the swelling that was blocking said blue eye.

"Regen" Rias' eyes then widened. "...Are you saying that you're trying to heal all those wounds by your natural healing factor alone?"

"Yeaahhhh" Issei nodded from the couch he was lying on, while Black took some meat from the dining table and threw it to Rover's mouth as he caught it, panting for more; all while still having Issei on its back.

"T-That's insane! The human body isn't designed to bear that kind of strain!" Rias rose up, pushing back her chair.

"Wait, wait, hold up." Saji stepped in. "Natural healing factor? What are you guys talking about? The guy is in bad shape there!" He asked.

"Human body always automatically repairs itself upon receiving damage, Saji." Tsubasa explained with her sight on Issei. "While I don't need to explain the concept to you, I do side with Rias on this. And Ise trying to use your Boosted Gear to repair yourself Can you even do that? Can it even do that?" Tsubasa pointed out with a skeptical brow.

"That's what I want to know. And I know a guy that recovered from worse." Issei weakly waved Rias' explanation off. "Besides. Sacred Gears respond. To wielder's desires, right? Not to mention." Issei cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "When I learned that Boosted Gear enhanced The wielder's power. What does it enhance, exactly? What power does it 'boost'...? Strength? Speed? Stamina? Magic reserv-"

"Alright, listening to you like this is just plain sad. The point is, he is trying to see if he can channel the magic into his regen." Black cut him off with a face of blatant disappointment. "Now that we got that outta way, can we get to eat now? The food's getting cold and I'm starving."

Everyone was either pouting or downright scowling at Black's blatant disregard of Issei's well-being as the creature walked to and hopped onto an empty seat.

"Yeah, you guys should eat Go on without me, though can you save me a plate, please?" Issei asked. Noticing, Asia was still watching him with a tearful look, he sighed, "Look, Asia. I'll be fine In fact, why don't you take a look at." Issei's eyes darted around his wounds. "Yeah, look at my face, my head."

Asia and everyone else then looked at the wounded face. Much to their surprise - it was a slow process, but they saw some of the cuts that were bleeding had already closed, the black bruises had turned into a healthy red.

"Hey, kid! What do you want on your plate?" Black asked from the dining table. "Aside from steamed rice, we have beef and potato stew, casserole, miso soup and chop-suey! Which ones ya want?"

Issei cleared his throat again as the swelling on his face seemed to 'shrink'. "I'll take the rice with stew, chop suey and the miso, please!"

"Okay, try not to stay there too long! It's a hassle to reheat these up." Black returned as he split in two, one taking a plate and scooping beef, casserole, and chop-suey while the other grabbed a bowl of miso and potato stew, as they walked towards Issei.

Asia looked around, eyes trembling with nervousness as she closed her eyes, cutely dropped from her seat and walked up to the plate-holding Black.

"What-" Black cut himself off as Asia took his plate from his hand and ran sauntered towards Issei with rigid steps.

Everyone watched as Asia held the plate, staring at Issei with cheeks red as roses.

"Asia?"

The girl cut Issei off. "I-If Mr. Ise refuses healing, then I won't insist anymore." Her eyes then met his, the pair of emerald orbs that demanded no argument. "But y-you have to eat, Mr. Ise."

Grabbing a spoon, Asia scooped a spoonful of beef stew and rice, blew it for a few times before presenting it to his lips.

"Err." Issei felt awkward despite his appreciation for the gesture. He looked between Asia, the food, and everyone else who was watching in amusement - especially Black and Akeno.

Issei then looked back to Asia, who had not budged from her position. Knowing there was no getting out of this, Issei finally sighed and ate the food offered to him.

As Asia kept spoon-feeding Issei, everyone felt they were intruding at something. Heartfelt between the two. Saji, however, was watching with jealousy in his eyes.

"...Am I the only one who feels kind of pissed at Hyd right now?" Saji whispered to his fellow devil under Sona Sitri.

Tsubasa merely hummed as she slightly narrowed her eyes at Issei and Asia, before she grabbed a bowl of miso soup from Black and made her way to another empty spot next to Rover and Issei.

"Tsubasa?" Issei asked at the girl's sudden intrusion.

"You forgot your miso, pal." Tsubasa smiled coyly as she took a spoonful of the broth and offered it to Issei.

"Um Thanks." Issei replied as he slowly drank the soup from Tsubasa's spoon.

Asia found herself pouting at Tsubasa, who merely raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh, I can see the sparks grinding." Black snickered as his two halves returned to being one as he returned to his seat, sipping his potato stew with amusement.

Soon, everyone slowly took a seat at the dining table, eating their food while watching the exchange between Issei, Asia and Tsubasa in a mixture of curiosity and amusement.. And some jealousy from Saji.

During dinner, Rias noticed Akeno taking out her cellphone and was recording the awkward exchange between the trio with Rover being the oblivious fourth wheel.

"What are you doing?" Rias whispered.

"Compiling a visual report. Some girls from the Student Council asked me to let them know if something interesting happened." Akeno replied while recording. "...And I think Sona would like to see this."

Rias sighed in return, seeing no point in intervening once her Queen got mischievous.

"...Can you send me that footage later? The woman back home would definitely love this." Black whispered at Akeno.

The Queen regarded the black creature for a second before she shrugged in reply, "I don't see a need to deny."

After everyone gathered in the living room once they finished dinner, to much of their astonishment, over half of Issei's wounds were mended, his Boosted Gear glowing emerald every ten seconds.

"You sure you can still walk around like that? In your shape?" Tsubasa asked, pointing out that Issei still looked like some poor sap beaten black and blue by gangsters.

"Yeah, I can manage." Issei waved her off.

"Can you even see through that closed eye?" Saji asked, pointing at his swelling left eye, his eyelids almost closed completely.

"...One eye is enough for now." His shape was still not at peak performance, but he was good enough to move on his own, albeit his exhaustion from using Boosted Gear was obvious through his heaving breaths. Everyone's eyes were on him, noticing his short of breaths that occurred once in a while.

"Anyways, can we move on to today's discussion?" Issei asked as he dropped to the sofa, resting one hand on the handle, wanting to drop their concern for his health. His fractured bones were already connecting by now.

Black Sperm dropped beside Issei, eating from a bag of potato chips, another one stolen from Koneko's hoard, said girl across him frowning upon him as he smugly grinned back with a victorious crunch.

The other Devils sighed as they sat in their seats, Saji and Yto on the carpet around the table while Akeno and Rias sat on the couch across Issei alongside Koneko. Amanda and Catherine stood behind Issei dutifully while Asia, carrying Rover in her arms, sat next to Issei. Tsubasa dropped down on Issei's couch alongside them.

They were now ready to begin their second discussion.

"Alright, before we discuss today's performance, Kiba." Issei asked. "Is it true you can make any sword with your Sacred Gear?"

The Knight in question nodded, "That's correct. My Sacred Gear - Sword Birth, allows me to create demonic swords based on my imagination."

"Alright. Any downsides, though?" Issei asked, not missing the fact that his swords tend to be more fragile than usual.

"As for downsides all swords made by Sword Birth are weaker than properly made Demonic Swords." Yto sheepishly admitted.

"Yeah, I could tell."

No wonder Black could snap them easily like twigs while beating Yto up.

"Next is Rias-senpai. Whatever you shot at me yesterday had quite the kick, nothing like Diodora's wastes of energy he calls magic." Issei gestured. "Mind telling me what you shot at me?"

"What I used was the signature ability of one of the surviving Noble Clans - the Great King Bael Clan, the Power of Destruction. As the name implies, it simply disintegrates matters, organic or inorganic alike." Rias provided.

"Disintegrate?" Issei raised a brow at the chuuni-like description of a superpower. "Does it work like it said?" If it was as overpowered as he thought, then maybe she could hurt his dad.

"Yes. It is a strong power, but"

There went his dad's hopes of finding someone that could hurt him.

"What are the limits?" Issei asked, knowing where this was going.

"Yes, um" Rias blushed a little with a tinge of embarrassment. "Well, it cannot fully harm anyone protected by magical or spiritual means. For example, Falbium, one of the Four Great Satans, can block my Power of Destruction with his defensive aura. That and I cannot harm anything more powerful than my current ability so"

"You're still basically screwed in this Rating Game," Issei summarized.

"...Yes." Rias hung her head a little in an attempt to hide her shame.

Issei sighed as he scratched his head. As strong as it sounded, it seemed that it was more balanced than he thought. He did recall Rias shooting the same black-red energy at Rover and it did nothing to him.

"Wait, you said it's from the Bael clan?" Issei found a discrepancy in her words. "I thought you're a Gremory?"

Why did she have the power of another clan if her last name stated otherwise?

"There's a little story behind that." Rias nodded in understanding. "I was born from the Gremory Household under my father, while my mother is a devil from the Bael clan. My Power of Destruction was passed down from my mother to me. As well as my brother and my nephew."

"Ahh..." It was the same reason that Rias was trying to avoid- a political marriage between two clan members.

Issei was curious about Rias' nephew upon mentioning, but he chose to ignore that one detail for the time being.

"Then what's the Gremory's special superpower?" Issei asked.

"Really? 'Special superpower'?" Tsubasa scoffed at his choice of slang for the powers of Devils. Issei rolled his eyes at her comment in response, smiling a bit wryly.

As for Rias, she opened her mouth to answer, but the words died on her throat. Her expression turned contemplative for a second before it devolved into confusion.

"I I don't really know, to be honest."

This sparked Issei's curiosity aflame.

"...Are you for real?" Issei asked with a raised eyebrow. "You don't know the signature ability of your own family?"

Rias had the decency to look embarrassed, refusing to meet Issei's gaze. "To be fair, when I used my Power of Destruction for the first time, my whole family keeps telling me to focus on refining that power, Gremory's demonic trait simply went over my mind."

Knowing that he would not get any more information, Issei sighed in resignation. "Then that will be your homework. Find out about your Gremory's signature magic and see if you can use it."

"I understand, I will see what I can find." Rias nodded.

"Next. Saji." Issei turned to the Pawn. "I know that your Sacred Gear can absorb power, but can you tell me the specifics?"

"Err.." Saji actually found himself in a conundrum as he rolled his eyes around, unsure of what the answer was. "I guess power in general sense? Like, vitality, stamina or something?"

Issei exhaled as he ran his hand through his brown locks. "Dude, you need to learn more about your own Sacred Gear. It's like you barely touched the tiniest tip of the iceberg. Do you want Black to kick your ass again tomorrow?" Issei gestured to the evilly grinning creature responsible for Saji's suffering.

"Give me a break, I only got this when I reincarnated, which was only a few months ago!" Saji defended.

"Whining about it won't help you here. In any case, your other goal aside from improving your overall physique, is to learn what else you can do with your Sacred Gear, other than just absorbing 'power'." Issei quoted with his fingers.

"Yeah, your main gimmick is to 'throw a lasso at the bull and hope it goes down', and that is your only gimmick. That is sad, boy." Black added as he popped another chip in his mouth.

"I ugh." Saji ultimately hung his head in defeat and shame for two reasons. One, he definitely had no other moves that could help him with his failings. Two, complaining about it won't help him escape Black's torment, and Black would continue to beat him up until he solves it.

"Okay, what else" Issei looked around until his eyes landed on Tsubasa. "Tsubasa let's talk about you."

"Alright. Shoot. Tell everyone how I made you work for your meal." Tsubasa asked with a humorous finish.

"Very funny, but let's move on." Issei rolled his eyes with an amused grin before continuing, "You're basically just copying my fighting style and improvising along the way. You kinda don't have much originality in you for now, so we should work on that."

"...Fair enough." Tsubasa shrugged without complaint.

"Next will be. Asia." Issei's eyes went a tad softer at the human nun. "While we haven't decided whether you will reincarnate yourself or not,we'll train you with the assumption of your participation in mind. Your role as a healer is invaluable for the team, but at the same time, an enemy with a lick of experience will most likely aim for you first."

Asia looked scared for a second, but she quickly overcame her fear as she nodded in understanding.

"I can't really ask you to learn how to fight or hurt others. No matter how I see it, you just don't have that kind of bone in you. Which is a good thing," Issei chuckled. "So your aim here is to learn how to at least defend yourself - keeping yourself from getting injured."

"Y-Yes. I-I understand," Asia nodded obediently.

"Then Catherine and Amanda." Issei met the gaze of his two charges. "Catherine, what's your opinion about Kiba so far?" He asked.

"This is just my humble opinion, but. He's talented, the Sacred Gear he has would serve him well. However I'm afraid he's still green when it comes to real combat."

"How so?" Rias furrowed her eyebrows. "Yto is perhaps one of the most combat-oriented in my opinion." Akeno and Koneko understood what Rias meant.

Yto only regarded his fellow knight, waiting for her to elaborate further, albeit he already had an inkling.

"His mindset regarding combat is still that of a sanctioned match Like where you need to greet your opponent first and wait for the referee to allow you to fight." Catherine explained. "...Which will not work on a real battlefield. Your opponents will never play fair, they will use everything they have at their disposal to take you down, from sheer power to the most cunning and under-handed tricks. Having honour is fine and all, but it won't save you in the face of those who had none; only either you live or you die."

Yto could only close his eyes as he took in Catherine's criticism, before he met her eyes and nodded in understanding.

"So you're saying that he should fight Black more?" Saji summarized with a tone that hinted his desire to avoid Black Sperm. Yuuto flicked a nervous glance at the grinning Black with sweat starting to trickle.

"If it helps, yeah." Issei shrugged, causing Yuuto to slightly wince at the prospect. "Anyway, moving to Amanda" He eyed the Rook for a few seconds. "...I guess you never fought that much?"

"I I'm afraid so, Mr. Ise." Amanda nodded in shame. "Diodora simply gave me a minimum of training and conditioning, in order to get me accustomed with my new-found strength as a Rook."

"...Right." Issei then turned to another Rook in the room. "Tsubasa, sorry, but can you spare some time to show Amanda the ropes first before we continue where we left off?"

Tsubasa replied with a smile. "Sure thing. You better show me how you threw Black like that in return."

Issei rolled his eyes at her cheshire smarm. Leave it to her to hook in an incentive for every favor.

"I will be in your care, Ms. Yura." Amanda nodded.

Tsubasa smiled and nodded at Amanda.

"Next, Akeno." Issei moved to the Queen. "So far, you've been doing well in terms of close combat, I don't think it will take long until you can incorporate your magic in your new fighting style."

Akeno was a long-ranged spell-caster type of combatant. Her physical skills were not as sharp as her magical ones, so Issei wanted her to at least cover that flaw so she could throw everything she had at Riser's Peerage.

"Thank you again, that's twice now you've complimented me, Ise-kun." Akeno replied with a pleased smile.

Ignoring the teasing jab, Issei carried on with raising a finger in the air, "Also On the topic of magic, you probably already know how much I'm bad at it." He took this chance to see if he could develop his magical skills, his lacking an ironic opposite of Akeno and Rias'.

"Really?" Amanda asked.

"...Yep. While I can use Boosted Gear, I have absolutely no idea how to use magic like you Devils can. Even the dragon inside my Sacred Gear could only teach me the basics despite being an 'ancient, wise and powerful' Welsh Dragon, yet he's so useless."

[Screw you, I tried!]

The Devils raised their brows at Issei's confession of his poor aptitude with the magical side.

"...Shouldn't you have Azazel or someone from the Grigori as a tutor?" Rias pointed out.

"Azazel tried, but after days of attempts and assessments, his final judgement is, and I quote, 'don't bother learning magic, it's best to work on what you're best at instead, kid' and gave up on me. Didn't bother listening from that point." Issei sighed, having another reason to sic Rover at him. "Another friend of mine blatantly said 'you suck at magic so don't bother' and bragged about his 'magical superiority' as he laughed haughtily." Issei quoted with his fingers, referring to his silver-haired 'rival.'

"That's kind of unexpected of you." Akeno remarked with a small amusement. "But if you can use your Sacred Gear at will, you should be able to use magic to some extent. What can you do, besides Boosted Gear so far?"

"Um I just regulate the energy within me, focus them at one point, and blow stuff up." Issei cryptically explained.

Akeno snorted in amusement at the answer, "...Okay, you at least covered the basics of energy regulation. In that case, I'd love to help you, Ise-kun."

"Thanks." Issei smiled in return, before he addressed the next person. "Koneko I crap, I don't have much to say."

He was no martial-arts master. Koneko had a good head on her shoulders and her skill probably rivaled his in some areas.

"All I can say is you have the basics covered, but you lack" However, there was something missing in Koneko, something he couldn't put his finger on. "Hmmm, I don't know how to say it. We'll touch back on it once I figure it out."

"...Okay." Koneko replied.

Truthfully speaking Issei was running out of ideas.

"Back to Rias How did your training go? What have you learned so far?" Issei addressed the last person.

"Well enough, I suppose. I believe I have improved by leaps and bounds." Rias replied with an oddly smug tone.

Issei responded with eyes that basically screamed skepticism. "...Koneko, how did it go with her?" He gestured his head at the redhead.

"Her reaction was sloppy, her endurance was barely passable, and she easily freaked out whenever I got close and personal." Koneko summarized.

Rias shot her Rook a pouting glare, before she returned to Issei's deadpanned look and felt her cheeks warmed up in embarrassment. "Fine, but I've done my best and will do better tomorrow, okay? Get off my back!"

Issei sighed, but decided to let it go for the time being in favour of still having eight days to go.

The group he was in charge of, was still quite a bunch of unpolished misfits, but they did show promise. All Isse, Black and Rover could give them were a push in the right direction.

"Alright, I guess that's everyone." Issei ran his hand through his locks. At this point, most of his visible wounds had already healed up. "Before we call it a night, though, I want to address one last thing: This Phenex dude. What can you tell me about that guy?"

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