charclone
Well-known member
Asia forced herself to remain still as Philip stepped out of the cabin, Rias following him, the day after the meeting with Rizer, after a long hike up a mountain to a remote training camp owned by the House Gremory.
"Okay, so, we have a basic training plan," The magician announced to the Gremory Peerage. "I will be spending an hour teaching those of you skilled in spellcraft some useful spells. I will expect you to practice them later."
"The rest of our time here will be taken up practising, training, exercising, and building up your power," Rias joined in. "We have ten days before the Rating game. And we will win."
As Ise cheered, Asia briefly felt shame at her hesitation, before she nodded. Yet, doubt plagued her mind. She had been reborn as a Devil, thus, should she be more excited at the prospect of bloodshed?
"So," Philip continued. "Couple points to note. Ise, focus on using your Boosts on your rate of growth. If that doesn't work, just focus on the rate at which your body heals. Both you and Asia are also to experiment with your Sacred Gears."
"In addition, Aya is away talking with her grandparents who may agree to help train you," Rias took over where Philip left off. "Lastly, if any of you have ideas or concerns, go ahead and voice them."
"No such thing as a bad idea, just an impractical one in need of workshopping," Philip joked. "I'll be away most of the time, as will Aya, but I will help whenever I am present."
"Oh? Working on anything that we can use against that fried Chicken Bastard?" Ise asked, excited. Asia gave him a small, quiet, disappointed glare at his use of bad words before she paused, the look vanishing before anyone saw it, and briefly wondered if, as a Devil, she should instead be using that sort of language. Then again, Ise seemed to be the only one who did use swear words…
"No," Philip rolled his eyes. "I do have to teach Saji too, you know. Also, I have a job besides tutoring you three."
"Right," Philip clapped his hands. "We'll start with the first two spells I'll be teaching you. They are Sealing Barrier and Elemental Dart. We will work our way up to Elemental Lance over the next few days."
Asia swallowed as she felt butterflies in her stomach.
Unaware of Asia's nervousness, Philip began to lay out the basic mathematics of the spells. Asia appreciated the visual guide he gave, using illusions, but it didn't make the math any easier. It was more advanced than anything she had been taught by the Church. But she would push through it, for the sake of Ise, her new friends, and the second chance at life she had been blessed with.
Eventually, once Philip was certain they had the basics down, and after making a teasing comment about him being jealous over Devils' ability to not need hard formulas on the spells to cast magic, he set them to practice them.
Asia giggled as she hit Ise for the third time in a row with Sealing Barrier, his own spell fizzling out as his power was briefly constrained, his face falling.
"Alright, Asia, not bad," Philip complimented with a nod. "While I am gone, focus on tightening up your spells and casting them faster. Ise… yeah, find a target and practice on it. But you are keeping them tight and efficient, so good job there."
Ise deflated, slumping where he stood, but gave a nod.
"Alright," Philip turned to the far end of the field. With a wave of his staff, copies of Rizer appeared. "This-"
A blast of power made them all jump as one of the illusions was torn apart, cutting off Philip's words.
A moment later, Rias meekly lowered her arm. Her face flushed with embarrassment as she apologised, before turning around and heading back into the cabin, giving Akeno a death glare as the Queen giggled.
"As I was saying," Philip coughed and replaced the destroyed illusion. "You will be using these as targets."
Ise pumped a fist in anticipation. Asia frowned. She understood why Ise was excited, Rizer seemed like a bad person. But the butterflies in her stomach did not cease.
"Okay, just hit them with the Elemental Darts a couple of times, at your own pace," Philip instructed. "We can work on speed and accuracy later. Same with efficiency."
Ise took a deep breath, and as his Gauntlet appeared with a draconic voice shouting 'Boost!', he poured his power into the spell.
The small dart of fire fizzled out behind the illusion.
"Accuracy isn't bad, but the power was lacking," Philip critiqued. "Also, use ice, or some other element that won't cause ecological devastation."
"Ahaha…" Ise gave a nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of his head. "I, uh, only know the fire one…"
"Then go back and memorise something like ice or water," Philip sighed. "Okay, Asia, you are next."
Asia tried. She held her hands up and pushed the power into the spell. It even materialised before her… but not fully, collapsing into itself.
In the distance, the illusion of Rizer seemed to mockingly grin at her, even though Asia knew it was just mind. Or Philip teasing her.
She tried again, and this time, the spell stayed stable for several seconds, but she couldn't get the power to stabilize enough for it to release.
She paused, as Philip waited patiently, a slow frown forming on his face. She took another breath, ignoring the heat from her cheeks, and gathered her reserves again.
"Enough, Asia! Enough," Philip suddenly called out.
Asia blinked in surprise, then stumbled as the world seemed to sway around her.
Ise was suddenly there to catch her as she fell.
Philip sighed.
"Okay, that's enough for now," He declared. "Ise, keep memorising the other variants and practice with them. Asia… are you alright?"
"Um… I'm fine," Asia said as she tried to stand, after giving Ise a grateful smile, and desperately ignored her blush. "Um… so should I try again?"
She tried not to sound pleading.
Philip shook his head.
"Ise, why don't you go practice," He said. At the Pawn's reluctant look, Philip sighed. "I want to talk to Asia about it, before moving ahead."
Ise frowned but gave the magician a nod and went back to where the books had been left on a picnic table.
"Are you sure you are okay?" Philip turned to Asia, giving her a look. "You became very pale and poured far more power into that spell than you needed to. I'd have probably passed out around halfway."
Asia flinched.
"No, no, I'm okay," She held up her hands. "So, I just need to put less power into the spells?"
"… no," Philip frowned. "Tamamo seems to think there is more to it than that."
Asia flinched again. Philip snorted.
"You're worse than Aya at keeping things a secret, aren't you?" He accused with amusement. Asia just hung her head. "It's alright. I, nor Rias, will be mad. Now is a good time to find issues before we start heavy planning for the Rating Game."
Asia's butterflies turned into a hurricane.
"I'm… I don't want to be useless…" She started to sob. "But… I… I hate the idea of hurting people. I know… I know I'm supposed to be a Devil now, but…"
In the distance, she could hear Ise suddenly rush towards them.
"Is there a difference between Devils and humans, beyond the inherent magic?" Philip asked.
"Well, um," Asia sniffled. "Ah, the priests and sisters… they said that… Devils were evil, but… Rias isn't like what they said, and the one I healed, he was so kind."
A distant look flickered over Philip's face, a slight tugging at the side of his face.
"So, they were wrong, or didn't have the whole story," Philip said. "One would hardly expect the nice Devils to willingly go out hurting people."
Blinking Asia nodded.
"Ah, is everything okay?" Ise asked.
"One moment, please," Philip calmly replied, before looking back at Asia. "So, no offensive spells. You had no issue using the Sealing Barrier against Ise, so, as long as it causes no direct pain, do you think you could do that? If not, I can look into you getting alchemy lessons from Moreal, and we can look into teaching you to be more flexible with your healing."
Asia sucked in a breath as Ise put a supporting arm around her shoulder. She wiped her tears and leaned into his touch.
"If it helps Asia, she can use me as a target as many times as she wants," The boy declared.
"I… I am willing to try," Asia said.
"Okay," Philip nodded. "In that case, I will focus on buffs and debuffs I can teach. Unfortunately, illusions make up the bulk of my repertoire, so I will need to ask around for some spells."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Asia winced. "I didn't mean to cause problems."
"No problems," Philip denied. "I should broaden my own skillset anyway. Besides, I am being paid to teach you. Once you feel ready, I can teach you some of the basic stuff I know, though I haven't used it much. Given your reserves of power, I suspect you will be able to leverage them to greater effect than I could."
"Well, aren't you the cutest!" Masa Kato declared. The elder kitsune rubbed Asia's head, ruffling her hair. "Why didn't you say she was so cute!?"
Philip sighed as Aya wilted under her grandmother's teasing glare. Asia, for her part, didn't mind the affection, though she wasn't sure how to react to being hugged.
"Anway," Rias coughed. "Thank you for agreeing to help."
"After Aya described what the sleaze was like, I had half a mind to call some fae I know," Masa replied, smiling. Asia trapped in her embrace, by both arms and tails. "But that would probably be a bit too far. Even if he deserved it."
"Perhaps as a plan B?" Rias said. The coughed. "Now, you said you had a plan to help us train?"
"Correct!" Masa released Asia. "Now, your main issue is that his peerage has more experience and general power, correct?"
"That's correct," Rias confirmed.
"His regeneration is an issue," Philip added.
"Well, I'm not sure I agree," Masa countered. "After all, you already have everything you need to crush him on his lonesome. So, you need to take out his Peerage, divide and conquer."
"That is the general plan we had," Rias frowned. "What do you suggest?"
"Simple," Masa grinned and looked at Asia. "Could you try and bless this bottle of water for me, please?"
Asia swallowed, uncertain, but nodded before she prayed over it. She gave a brief hiss of pain, but pressed on, her Twilight Healing giving a green glow as it eased the pain.
Rias' grin became predatory when she felt the prick of pain from a single drop when she experimentally dripped it onto her skin.
"Oh, Lady Gremory," Masa asked. "Where is the rest of your peerage?"
A sudden yelp of pain echoed from across the camp as Ise took a blow.
"Rias is having them beat on Ise," Philip bluntly stated.
"No!" Rias protested. "They are helping teach him to dodge."
"How is it going?" Cain asked as he entered the lab. Then he paused and blinked. "Where is everyone else?"
"Given the time here in Berlin, asleep is my guess," Philip replied. "A pity temporal manipulation is still out of our reach."
"Gods can handle the side effects," Cain replied. "We cannot. Now, anything interesting?"
"Well, I think Asia has issues with causing harm," Philip said. "Um, Ise is quick to learn when motivated. Rias doesn't think things through."
"I meant about the project, though those are interested," Cain shook his head with a smile. "I have also prepared a list for you."
"Ah, thank you. Now regarding the project… well, without Heaven's system to pull power from, we need to use magazines or batteries of some sort," Philip said. "It will bulk up the design since having magicians charge them in combat isn't an option."
The young man stood from where he had been studying a diagram on one of the tables and walked over to another workbench, where a large, disassembled weapon lay.
"As for the goal… well, golems can handle the weight, and I certainly wouldn't want to stare down the barrel of a massive cannon, no matter what it shot," Philip snorted. "I think, with the modifications to the design I had and Moreal's crystal recipe, we can get these out at a decent rate."
"Excellent," Cain clapped his hands. "Now, head home. Get some rest. I can speak from experience when I say that teaching can tire one out quickly."
"Sure boss," Philip yawned. "Just wanted to read over the notes added to the design."
"Do it in the morning," Cain ordered. "You have the time. Also, the favour owed: I will have you attend the Rating Game. I have a few more things I would like, but I think that, and a slight discount for some alchemical ingredients will be sufficient."
"Yeah, alright," Philip snorted. "You think Rias will win?"
"Probably," Cain shrugged. "I've seen what her kin can do with Destruction, and what the Phenex can do. There is a reason Bael, was a King of Hell and Phenex a Marquis. Encourage them, and help them grow. And foster good relations."
"Yeah, I won't forget my main job," Philip shook his head before heading off. He paused for a moment. "Hey… and suggestions for taking out a Phenex with spells?"
"Keep the head from reforming," Cain replied. "Holy Light and Ice, with an Elemental Lance, should do it. No ability to think will keep them from moving or casting spells. Keeping them still long enough, that is the trick. What you should be asking is how to deal with his Peerage."
"And?"
"He uses them disposably, as I'm sure you noticed. Make him pay for that."
"Okay, so, we have a basic training plan," The magician announced to the Gremory Peerage. "I will be spending an hour teaching those of you skilled in spellcraft some useful spells. I will expect you to practice them later."
"The rest of our time here will be taken up practising, training, exercising, and building up your power," Rias joined in. "We have ten days before the Rating game. And we will win."
As Ise cheered, Asia briefly felt shame at her hesitation, before she nodded. Yet, doubt plagued her mind. She had been reborn as a Devil, thus, should she be more excited at the prospect of bloodshed?
"So," Philip continued. "Couple points to note. Ise, focus on using your Boosts on your rate of growth. If that doesn't work, just focus on the rate at which your body heals. Both you and Asia are also to experiment with your Sacred Gears."
"In addition, Aya is away talking with her grandparents who may agree to help train you," Rias took over where Philip left off. "Lastly, if any of you have ideas or concerns, go ahead and voice them."
"No such thing as a bad idea, just an impractical one in need of workshopping," Philip joked. "I'll be away most of the time, as will Aya, but I will help whenever I am present."
"Oh? Working on anything that we can use against that fried Chicken Bastard?" Ise asked, excited. Asia gave him a small, quiet, disappointed glare at his use of bad words before she paused, the look vanishing before anyone saw it, and briefly wondered if, as a Devil, she should instead be using that sort of language. Then again, Ise seemed to be the only one who did use swear words…
"No," Philip rolled his eyes. "I do have to teach Saji too, you know. Also, I have a job besides tutoring you three."
"Right," Philip clapped his hands. "We'll start with the first two spells I'll be teaching you. They are Sealing Barrier and Elemental Dart. We will work our way up to Elemental Lance over the next few days."
Asia swallowed as she felt butterflies in her stomach.
Unaware of Asia's nervousness, Philip began to lay out the basic mathematics of the spells. Asia appreciated the visual guide he gave, using illusions, but it didn't make the math any easier. It was more advanced than anything she had been taught by the Church. But she would push through it, for the sake of Ise, her new friends, and the second chance at life she had been blessed with.
Eventually, once Philip was certain they had the basics down, and after making a teasing comment about him being jealous over Devils' ability to not need hard formulas on the spells to cast magic, he set them to practice them.
Asia giggled as she hit Ise for the third time in a row with Sealing Barrier, his own spell fizzling out as his power was briefly constrained, his face falling.
"Alright, Asia, not bad," Philip complimented with a nod. "While I am gone, focus on tightening up your spells and casting them faster. Ise… yeah, find a target and practice on it. But you are keeping them tight and efficient, so good job there."
Ise deflated, slumping where he stood, but gave a nod.
"Alright," Philip turned to the far end of the field. With a wave of his staff, copies of Rizer appeared. "This-"
A blast of power made them all jump as one of the illusions was torn apart, cutting off Philip's words.
A moment later, Rias meekly lowered her arm. Her face flushed with embarrassment as she apologised, before turning around and heading back into the cabin, giving Akeno a death glare as the Queen giggled.
"As I was saying," Philip coughed and replaced the destroyed illusion. "You will be using these as targets."
Ise pumped a fist in anticipation. Asia frowned. She understood why Ise was excited, Rizer seemed like a bad person. But the butterflies in her stomach did not cease.
"Okay, just hit them with the Elemental Darts a couple of times, at your own pace," Philip instructed. "We can work on speed and accuracy later. Same with efficiency."
Ise took a deep breath, and as his Gauntlet appeared with a draconic voice shouting 'Boost!', he poured his power into the spell.
The small dart of fire fizzled out behind the illusion.
"Accuracy isn't bad, but the power was lacking," Philip critiqued. "Also, use ice, or some other element that won't cause ecological devastation."
"Ahaha…" Ise gave a nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of his head. "I, uh, only know the fire one…"
"Then go back and memorise something like ice or water," Philip sighed. "Okay, Asia, you are next."
Asia tried. She held her hands up and pushed the power into the spell. It even materialised before her… but not fully, collapsing into itself.
In the distance, the illusion of Rizer seemed to mockingly grin at her, even though Asia knew it was just mind. Or Philip teasing her.
She tried again, and this time, the spell stayed stable for several seconds, but she couldn't get the power to stabilize enough for it to release.
She paused, as Philip waited patiently, a slow frown forming on his face. She took another breath, ignoring the heat from her cheeks, and gathered her reserves again.
"Enough, Asia! Enough," Philip suddenly called out.
Asia blinked in surprise, then stumbled as the world seemed to sway around her.
Ise was suddenly there to catch her as she fell.
Philip sighed.
"Okay, that's enough for now," He declared. "Ise, keep memorising the other variants and practice with them. Asia… are you alright?"
"Um… I'm fine," Asia said as she tried to stand, after giving Ise a grateful smile, and desperately ignored her blush. "Um… so should I try again?"
She tried not to sound pleading.
Philip shook his head.
"Ise, why don't you go practice," He said. At the Pawn's reluctant look, Philip sighed. "I want to talk to Asia about it, before moving ahead."
Ise frowned but gave the magician a nod and went back to where the books had been left on a picnic table.
"Are you sure you are okay?" Philip turned to Asia, giving her a look. "You became very pale and poured far more power into that spell than you needed to. I'd have probably passed out around halfway."
Asia flinched.
"No, no, I'm okay," She held up her hands. "So, I just need to put less power into the spells?"
"… no," Philip frowned. "Tamamo seems to think there is more to it than that."
Asia flinched again. Philip snorted.
"You're worse than Aya at keeping things a secret, aren't you?" He accused with amusement. Asia just hung her head. "It's alright. I, nor Rias, will be mad. Now is a good time to find issues before we start heavy planning for the Rating Game."
Asia's butterflies turned into a hurricane.
"I'm… I don't want to be useless…" She started to sob. "But… I… I hate the idea of hurting people. I know… I know I'm supposed to be a Devil now, but…"
In the distance, she could hear Ise suddenly rush towards them.
"Is there a difference between Devils and humans, beyond the inherent magic?" Philip asked.
"Well, um," Asia sniffled. "Ah, the priests and sisters… they said that… Devils were evil, but… Rias isn't like what they said, and the one I healed, he was so kind."
A distant look flickered over Philip's face, a slight tugging at the side of his face.
"So, they were wrong, or didn't have the whole story," Philip said. "One would hardly expect the nice Devils to willingly go out hurting people."
Blinking Asia nodded.
"Ah, is everything okay?" Ise asked.
"One moment, please," Philip calmly replied, before looking back at Asia. "So, no offensive spells. You had no issue using the Sealing Barrier against Ise, so, as long as it causes no direct pain, do you think you could do that? If not, I can look into you getting alchemy lessons from Moreal, and we can look into teaching you to be more flexible with your healing."
Asia sucked in a breath as Ise put a supporting arm around her shoulder. She wiped her tears and leaned into his touch.
"If it helps Asia, she can use me as a target as many times as she wants," The boy declared.
"I… I am willing to try," Asia said.
"Okay," Philip nodded. "In that case, I will focus on buffs and debuffs I can teach. Unfortunately, illusions make up the bulk of my repertoire, so I will need to ask around for some spells."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Asia winced. "I didn't mean to cause problems."
"No problems," Philip denied. "I should broaden my own skillset anyway. Besides, I am being paid to teach you. Once you feel ready, I can teach you some of the basic stuff I know, though I haven't used it much. Given your reserves of power, I suspect you will be able to leverage them to greater effect than I could."
"Well, aren't you the cutest!" Masa Kato declared. The elder kitsune rubbed Asia's head, ruffling her hair. "Why didn't you say she was so cute!?"
Philip sighed as Aya wilted under her grandmother's teasing glare. Asia, for her part, didn't mind the affection, though she wasn't sure how to react to being hugged.
"Anway," Rias coughed. "Thank you for agreeing to help."
"After Aya described what the sleaze was like, I had half a mind to call some fae I know," Masa replied, smiling. Asia trapped in her embrace, by both arms and tails. "But that would probably be a bit too far. Even if he deserved it."
"Perhaps as a plan B?" Rias said. The coughed. "Now, you said you had a plan to help us train?"
"Correct!" Masa released Asia. "Now, your main issue is that his peerage has more experience and general power, correct?"
"That's correct," Rias confirmed.
"His regeneration is an issue," Philip added.
"Well, I'm not sure I agree," Masa countered. "After all, you already have everything you need to crush him on his lonesome. So, you need to take out his Peerage, divide and conquer."
"That is the general plan we had," Rias frowned. "What do you suggest?"
"Simple," Masa grinned and looked at Asia. "Could you try and bless this bottle of water for me, please?"
Asia swallowed, uncertain, but nodded before she prayed over it. She gave a brief hiss of pain, but pressed on, her Twilight Healing giving a green glow as it eased the pain.
Rias' grin became predatory when she felt the prick of pain from a single drop when she experimentally dripped it onto her skin.
"Oh, Lady Gremory," Masa asked. "Where is the rest of your peerage?"
A sudden yelp of pain echoed from across the camp as Ise took a blow.
"Rias is having them beat on Ise," Philip bluntly stated.
"No!" Rias protested. "They are helping teach him to dodge."
"How is it going?" Cain asked as he entered the lab. Then he paused and blinked. "Where is everyone else?"
"Given the time here in Berlin, asleep is my guess," Philip replied. "A pity temporal manipulation is still out of our reach."
"Gods can handle the side effects," Cain replied. "We cannot. Now, anything interesting?"
"Well, I think Asia has issues with causing harm," Philip said. "Um, Ise is quick to learn when motivated. Rias doesn't think things through."
"I meant about the project, though those are interested," Cain shook his head with a smile. "I have also prepared a list for you."
"Ah, thank you. Now regarding the project… well, without Heaven's system to pull power from, we need to use magazines or batteries of some sort," Philip said. "It will bulk up the design since having magicians charge them in combat isn't an option."
The young man stood from where he had been studying a diagram on one of the tables and walked over to another workbench, where a large, disassembled weapon lay.
"As for the goal… well, golems can handle the weight, and I certainly wouldn't want to stare down the barrel of a massive cannon, no matter what it shot," Philip snorted. "I think, with the modifications to the design I had and Moreal's crystal recipe, we can get these out at a decent rate."
"Excellent," Cain clapped his hands. "Now, head home. Get some rest. I can speak from experience when I say that teaching can tire one out quickly."
"Sure boss," Philip yawned. "Just wanted to read over the notes added to the design."
"Do it in the morning," Cain ordered. "You have the time. Also, the favour owed: I will have you attend the Rating Game. I have a few more things I would like, but I think that, and a slight discount for some alchemical ingredients will be sufficient."
"Yeah, alright," Philip snorted. "You think Rias will win?"
"Probably," Cain shrugged. "I've seen what her kin can do with Destruction, and what the Phenex can do. There is a reason Bael, was a King of Hell and Phenex a Marquis. Encourage them, and help them grow. And foster good relations."
"Yeah, I won't forget my main job," Philip shook his head before heading off. He paused for a moment. "Hey… and suggestions for taking out a Phenex with spells?"
"Keep the head from reforming," Cain replied. "Holy Light and Ice, with an Elemental Lance, should do it. No ability to think will keep them from moving or casting spells. Keeping them still long enough, that is the trick. What you should be asking is how to deal with his Peerage."
"And?"
"He uses them disposably, as I'm sure you noticed. Make him pay for that."