Chapter 20: Licht Vene
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Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x
AN: I'm going to start using [Example] for techniques now, since I notice a lot of other works do this. And I think this makes it easier for the reader to differentiate them.
Basically like; [Phantom Blade], [Mana Step], [Umbral Rope]. You get the jist.
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Like most days, Takauji was in his backyard. His arm stretched outwards and his palm wide open.
Droplets of sweat ran down his glistening skin, accompanied by the strained expression on his face pronounced by his clenched teeth.
One more time… it's fine even if I just make a fraction of progress…
A Magic Circle appeared, and soon what could only be described as the sound of a distorted zipper rang through the atmosphere.
A small tear in space had appeared in front of him, the inside of which was nothing but a pitch-black void.
And in a matter of seconds, it closed. His knees buckled as his breathing grew heavy.
Still no luck… regardless, I'll get this down eventually.
Right now he was trying to master the more detailed version of [Vacio], which turned out to be the real name of the pocket dimension technique he had once studied from one of Rias Gremory's books.
But with his currently lacking proficiency, the technique was utterly unusable.
"You shouldn't rush that technique Villain-kun," his new benefactor approached him. "It's on a completely different level from the ones you've learned up till now. Give it time, and study it properly before you end up frying your own brain."
The voice belonged to none other than Azazel, whom he had met roughly four days ago give or take.
"Yeah… I suppose you're right." He wisely chose to heed the Governor's warning, putting aside the technique for another time.
"I'm always right," he said shamelessly. "But the fact that you're actually able to make a tear at all, already shows promise. So don't lose hope."
"Wasn't planning on it," he replied confidently. "Are you still working on that?"
"Nope, I just finished up." Takauji's eyes seemed to light up. "Wanna have a look?"
"Is that even a question?"
Azazel beamed as they went to his bedroom, Raynare waiting alongside him with anticipation.
A bright yellow Magic Circle appeared on his wooden floorboard, soon opening up and revealing a staircase that went downwards.
"After you," Azazel gestured politely.
Now this is impressive. No, that's an understatement, this is absolutely remarkable.
"I'd ask you what you think, but the look on your face seems to have answered that for me."
"As expected of Azazel-sama!" Raynare cheered, her fangirling causing both men to experience second-hand embarrassment.
Despite being under his house, Takauji was met with the sight of a large rocky expanse. A bright blue sky above, and terrain that seemed to extend as far as the eye could see.
The Governor had given him his very own underground training area, and one he could use in the comfort of his own home no less.
"Do I even want to ask how you accomplished this?"
The sheer variation of Magic applications required to create this place were beyond anything his brain could comprehend.
"No, you really don't."
Living for centuries on end had its benefits.
Azazel breathed a deep yawn, stretching his sore arms as he started to walk away.
"I've been here long enough, and there's probably a whole lot of work waiting for me back at Grigori. So I'll be taking my leave, any last minute requests you want to make before I bounce?"
The Magician shook his head.
"No, unless you want to give me the [Cursed Eyes] in advance?"
"Haha, you wish." The Fallen Angel disappeared at a speed Takauji's eyes couldn't follow.
He turned to Raynare, observing her with a peculiar look on his face.
"What is it?" She asked.
Her strength has increased by about 20% ever since she started her overclocking training… maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to give her that technique.
"Follow me," he ordered as they descended deeper into the training ground. Finding an open spot that he found satisfactory.
He pulled out a small notebook he had been using on the side, atop his main studies.
"Azazel wanted me to teach you a certain technique that only you Fallen Angels can make use of, and I think now would be a good time to follow through on that."
Her eyelids stretched wide open, filled with burning gratitude for her idol. To think he would bestow a technique upon someone as unworthy as her.
Truly deserving of her eternal reverence.
"It's called [Licht Vene]," she listened attentively. "After studying it for a bit, I've noticed that it's pretty similar to the defensive properties of the enhanced clothing he gave me. But your veins act as the conductor instead of fabric."
"I see…"
She in fact, did not understand a thing he had just said.
Takauji rolled his eyes, flipping the notebook around, revealing a drawing of a human body with its veins highlighted.
I'm going to have to dumb this down aren't I…?
"You understand how your Light Mana runs through your veins passively right?"
"Yeah," he heaved a sigh of relief.
"Good, so this technique basically activates the flowing Light Mana, allowing you to use it defensively. Apparently you should also be able to mitigate blood loss and whatnot with it."
Not possessing any Light Mana himself, it was a little difficult for him to gain a true understanding of the technique.
"And… how do I go about activating it?"
"You'll need to start by tracing your veins with your Light Mana, and then you have to gradually thicken the quantity of Mana inside them. According to Azazel, if you do that correctly your Fallen Angel body should take care of the rest."
Having your body do the calculations for you… I'm a little jealous.
He handed his notebook over to her.
"If you get stuck first try reading this for help, I've put down some tips that should be of use to you. But if it still doesn't cut it for you, then you can come to me."
"Understood… but… what about [Balance Breaker]?"
"Focus on this for now, I still haven't found a method that would suit you," she could only nod in understanding as he went off to attend to his business.
From what he had learned from Azazel's research notes, achieving [Balance Breaker] required an immensely powerful emotional trigger.
The trigger then leads to a change in the spirit of the wielder, which results in the temporary state of evolution.
Obviously, Azazel had not yet told him the main reason as to why the evolutionary state was even possible to begin with. That was a conversation for a much later date.
With the current demo I have planned, whether she can master [Licht Vene] or not might be crucial as to determining if she can succeed.
Train hard Raynare, I honestly don't mind if you want to be a power-idiot your whole life, but if that's what you want you'll need to have a whole lot of power.
More than you've ever dreamed of.
To create the perfect conditions for her to achieve [Balance Breaker], he needed a firm understanding of her emotions.
What made her tick, what made her happy, what made her sad, so on and so forth.
And thanks to the nature of their relationship, he had already cleared that prerequisite.
He walked back up the flight of stairs, returning to his bedroom as he closed off the raised floorboard behind him.
Oh? To think she'd come here herself… maybe something rather interesting is about to happen.
The teleportation circle in his house began to flash, causing him to use his Master-Servant pact to communicate with Raynare.
"Stay there until I say otherwise, someone's paying me a visit."
"Understood…"
"What a grim look you have on your face, did someone die?" Takauji asked, looking at the now appearing figure of Akeno Himejima.
Her face still nervous as ever, actually even more so than usual upon closer inspection. As if something else had happened atop her little "incident" with him.
"Hello… Taka…"
She seemed to hesitate with her words, probably not sure if she was even welcome here anymore.
But he simply continued to look at her with his signature gentle smile, waiting for her to find the words.
"Hello to you too, Himejima-san. How can I be of help?"
Akeno grabbed her arm with her other hand, her posture stiffer than ever.
"Can we… talk…?" She finally found the confidence to ask.
"Sure," he sat down on his bedside. Tapping the spot next to him, signaling for her to sit down.
To which she did, albeit slowly.
"So, what troubles you?"
"There's been an… incident… of sorts back at the clubroom."
Don't tell me, did someone actually die?
"Go on," he ushered.
"You see… Rias's fiancé came to visit today."
Oh? She had a fiancé this whole time? Poor Issei-kun…
"I'd say congratulations, but your face is telling me that his arrival wasn't a good thing."
She nodded affirmatively.
"As you know, arranged marriages in Devil society are pretty common, especially among the noble houses in order to preserve the diminishing bloodlines…"
Ah, so it's that kind of a thing.
"And Rias has actually been engaged to someone from the Phenex household for a good while now. However, the marriage itself was supposed to be postponed until she graduated from human university."
"I see, so his arrival means that it's been accelerated?"
"Yeah…"
"I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that she doesn't have the power to refuse?"
"Not quite, she did in fact refuse but there's a condition that came with it…"
"Hm?"
"She has to win against her fiancé in a Rating Game, and if she loses then the marriage will continue as planned."
Rating Game? Right, Devils have matches against one another to earn prestige and stuff. Well, as a human I shouldn't have to worry about any of that.
"Sounds like quite the ordeal," he had to make a genuine effort to sound interested.
"It is, but we've been given 10 days to prepare for the match so at least there's that…"
"Is her fiancé strong? You seem rather unconfident about your odds of victory." He observed.
"His name is Riser Phenex, he's already got a few games under his belt unlike Rias and…"
"And?"
"Do you know what the ability of the Phenex household is?"
"I'm afraid I do not," the amount of time he spent bothering to learn about Devil society was very limited. Anything that wasn't absolutely crucial didn't even cross his mind.
"It's [Immortality]," Takauji raised a brow.
"[Immortality]? Surely it can't be the literal form? There must be some limits to it…"
"There technically are, the ability relies on his Demonic Power which he has a lot of, and according to Rias it's also affected by his mental fortitude which we'll probably need to find some way to exploit if we want to win."
Mental fortitude? Depending on his personality, he's lucky that I'm not a Devil. I'd probably be a terrible matchup for him.
"I see, well if you can 'kill' him enough times, then I suppose that would chip away at his sanity somewhat. Though I've never met the man so I can't say for sure."
"About that… Taka, do you mind if I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
He could feel her take a deep internal breath, clearly about to ask something rather bold.
"Is there any way… that you'd consider becoming a Devil…?"
The Magician paused, able to tell that she wasn't joking in the slightest by both her tone, and facial features.
"A Devil… you mean reincarnating as one of Rias's pieces?"
"Yes…"
He exhaled, resisting the urge to pinch his nose bridge.
"I'm sure you already know why I'm asking you this, your strength would be extremely helpful in taking down Riser."
"On paper that is, but you have a point." He scratched his neck, contemplating the question for only a moment. "But I'll just say it outright, I have no interest in becoming one of her direct subordinates."
Her disappointment was more than evident.
"Firstly, I have already decided on my path, and have little intent on changing it. And secondly, you shouldn't even need my help to beat this guy to begin with…"
"What do you mean…?"
He shot her a knowing look, wearing an airtight poker face.
"[Light Magic] is effective against Devils isn't it?"
Her eyes widened, causing her to recoil as she stood up from his bed. Taking a single step back with shock written all over her face.
"When did you…"
"Not that long ago, and don't worry, if you don't want me to tell anyone then I won't. I don't know why you've chosen to hide it, nor will I ask you to tell me. However…"
"However…?"
The atmosphere grew heavy as the words left the Magician's mouth.
"Allow me to say this. Akeno Himejima," he stepped closer to her. Causing Akeno to flinch as he put a hand on her shoulder. "You mustn't allow your heart to despair, if you do that then everything and everyone around you that you treasure, will despair as well. Instead, you should wrap your heart in hope, hope like you've never felt before."
"Hope…?"
"Yes, hope. At the end of the day power is just power, it does not make a person, but rather how they choose to use it does. You may either sheath it for your own satisfaction, or bring it out of its scabbard for the happiness of others. That choice will always be yours. However, what comes after you've made your decision may not be."
In other words, the result of Riser Phenex winning.
"I'd rather you keep this quiet, but there are only two people in the entirety of the Gremory peerage that I have any genuine hope or interest in…"
She looked at his face, seeing an expression he had never worn around her before.
Honesty.
"One of them is Hyoudou Issei. And the other is you, Himejima-san."
Akeno couldn't even begin to find a response.
"I know not what either of you see in Rias Gremory, but it is not my place to question that so I will not comment on the matter. You are both people who have decided to try shouldering the entirety of your group on your backs, but that is not an easy task. You should understand this much."
The way he looked at her, it was almost as if his eyes were filled with pity.
"Although, it is not an impossible task either. The power of the Red Dragon Emperor, and the power you've inherited from being part Fallen Angel, alongside your already immense talent. If you wield them with hearts filled with hope, then there will be hope for your group."
Takauji started to walk towards his backyard, having no more words to offer her.
"Taka…"
"Yes?"
"When your contract expires… will you… leave…?"
He came to a halt.
"Yes, I will leave."
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Bro really just went out and said it. Damn.
10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14
Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x
Word Count: 2544
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