Chapter 69: The days of arduous training has begun! Hold on, you want me to take *you* as my vassal! (Part 1)
"We've arrived." Tannin said, their flight took a little more than a few hours, but they were able to reach their destination.
"Whoa…Dragon Mountain…" Michael was breathless at the sight of so many different dragons inhabiting the mountains. There were Flame Dragons, Blizzard Dragons, Lightning Dragons and many more either flying around the mountains or resting in their own separate cavern.
And the mountains, the entire mountain range was massive, Michael wondered if the entire range could be equal to the whole of Kuoh town. No, he doubted that because these mountains had varying types of environments suited for each dragon.
Such as the snowy ice mountain tops where Blizzard Dragons inhabit and blanket their bodies in snow. Or the terribly scorching mountain tops that were high in altitude and closer to the sun, they were suited for Flame Dragons that like to sunbathe their scales in the heat. Not to mention the lower levels of the mountains where resided a humid yet flourishing jungle like forest with strong rivers a gushing waterfall, and adequate shading for Earth Dragons.
And those were just the places that Michael could identify. There were so many more that were around that he kind of got overwhelmed at his new living arrangement for the next month.
Michael and Tannin decide to land on a tabletop mountain that's in the middle of all this nature. Unequipping his scale mail, Michael walked over to the mountain ledge and looked out at the various lands ahead.
"This place is…" Michael had no words to describe the sheer expansiveness of the land around him. Not just the land was overwhelming, but the many dragons inhabiting it were vastly powerful and numerous in terms of numbers.
"This area is the dragon's nest where my brethren live. After becoming a devil, I worked hard to achieve my ranking as an Ultimate-Class to attain a suitable environment for my kin." Tannin said.
"Wait, you can get territory in the underworld by becoming an Ultimate-Class devil?" Michael gasped, and received a nod, "That's so cool...I can't wait to start training already! Learning under an Ultimate-Class devil is the perfect way for me to learn to be one, one day!"
"Kukukukuku! I see that you're prepared even though you haven't even heard of your training regimen yet." Tannin smiled.
"Hah, you're not going to scare me off with any of your training, Gramps! I've survived through Shishou's training, so give me your best shot!" Michael grinned.
"I wonder if you'll have the energy to say that after you actually hear of your training for this month." Tannin coughed and grabbed Michael's full attention.
"Michael Hanamura, your stay here in Dragon Mountain will purely be for molding you into a proper dragon. You will learn how to fight like dragons, how to use magic and energy like dragons, and fly like dragons. Your time here will be for the purpose of you controlling the Red Dragon Emperor's power within you."
Tannin pointed at the multiple lands around in the mountains.
"That is why you'll be facing different types of dragons in their natural habitats. Each opponent will be chosen randomly for you, daily, so it will be impossible for you to prepare yourself against an opponent you're already accustomed to. This training will help you handle unpredictable battles and give you a sense as to how you should properly engage the enemy."
"So I just have to beat up dragons and get stronger? That sounds simple."
"There's more to it than that. Right now, you're at the bottom of the Dragon Mountain's hierarchy." Tannin crossed his arms.
"Bottom? Wait, this place has a hierarchy?" Michael's eyes widened.
"It shouldn't come off as a surprise. Most dragons are prideful and enter high staked brawls to prove their superiority to their own kind. Obviously, it's been enforced that no dangerous killings are permitted in any fights on the mountains, but fights still remain to keep the balance around here. The strong respect the strong. That's a saying we have around here, and you're going to abide by this hierarchy, too."
Tannin crouched down and dragged his claws to create a hierarchy graph.
"So where am I on this hierarchy?" Michael crouched down next to Tannin.
On the graph were these levels: High-Level Dragons Middle-Level Dragons Lower-Level Dragons You.
"Here." Tannin pointed at the very bottom.
"What the hell!? How come I'm dead last! I'm at least at middle-classed level, and that's just me being humble!" Michael growled.
[I find this to be a fair ranking for you.] Ddraig chimed.
"What, even you, Ddraig?"
[These dragons won't just accept you out of the blue because you already have power. You need to climb yourself up these levels to gain their respect. It's beneficial, so you can learn more about how these dragons fight and how you can apply them to yourself.] Ddraig made some good points.
"Correct, the majority of high-level dragons won't even speak to you unless you at least prove your strength to the others." Tannin agreed.
"Fine. It looks like I'm climbing the leaderboard to the top! At least I have something to focus on during this training unlike training to just survive."
[Dragon Booster!]
"Alright, let's start that countdown, Ddraig." Michael summoned the boosted gear.
"Ahem!"
"What?" Michael caught Tannin staring intently at him, "What!? Go on, you coughed like you had something to say, Gramps."
"Another part of your training requires you to avoid the use of your Balance Breaker this entire month."
"Say what now?"
"No Balance Breaker."
"You're kidding." Michael said with a straight face.
"I never kid around, youngling." Tannin shook his head.
"Aw, but WHY!?" Michael whined.
"The point of this training is to help you better control the Dragon energy within you. Training you with your balance breaker activated is counterproductive, you can learn to better control yourself, but as you are not you come at risk to accidentally hurt yourself with too much unnecessary boosting. So, we need you to strengthen your base form and get you naturally acquainted with the power."
Tannin explained.
"Dang it, but, hey, wouldn't it be faster with the Scale Mail? I can handle some pain, it's part of the training after all?" Michael tried to negotiate his thoughts.
[Partner, this is the only efficient way to get Welsh Drive. You need to toughen your body and train yourself to control the dragon power. Welsh Drive requires you to be in your base form without the use of your Sacred Gear. You don't need to rush with your training, you have all the time you need this time.]
"But-!"
[Look this isn't the same as that week of training for that Phoenix Rating Game. There's no rush. You have a month to improve yourself, so take your time and allow your body to properly go through the motions, okay. It will leave you less strained, and you'll learn more effectively.]
"Okay…" Michael begrudgingly listened to his partner's advice.
"Now show to me you're Boosted Gear." Tannin reached his hand out.
"Sure, but why?" Michael asked.
"Because I'm going to seal your Balance Breaker with this seal that the Governor-General gave me." Tannin summons in his hand a small blue crystal with various code floating around it, "Only him and I have the authorization to break the seal, so that you won't break it while training."
"Seriously, you can trust me! I haven't given you a reason not to trust me, Gramps!" Michael pleaded.
"True, but you haven't given me a reason to trust you either."
Michael glared at Tannin in silence.
'Damn, that was a good comeback, and he isn't wrong.' Michael thought.
"Okay, fine do it." Michael shrugged and watched as the crystal levitated over the Boosted Gear's jewel and integrated itself into the jewel. The jewel processed the crystal before a massive "x" formed over it.
"There you are. Officially placed on lockdown." Tannin said.
"Yay…" Michael drearily raised his fist.
"Now let's find you a suitable cave to hold your belongings." Tannin began to lead the young man to the mountains below until a massive shadow came their way.
"Hold it right there, Old Man!"
*THOOOOOM!*
"Whoa!" Taken off guard by the abrupt entrance of another dragon, Michael's eyes widened to find that it was a dragon that almost looked identical to Tannin. It was young as evidenced by its height being a bit shorter than Tannin's by only 5 meters, and judging by its lesser keen eyes, Michael could tell that the dragon lacked Tannin's warrior wisdom.
"So you finally decided to show yourself, Bova." Tannin laughed, "Good, it makes things easier if we introduce the two of you now."
"Don't get the wrong idea you, old fart! I only came here because of the racket your making with this little snot! Tch!" The dragon named Bova clicked his tongue.
"Hey, Gramps. This dragon really looks like you! What's up with that is he your kid or something?" Michael gazed up at the short, but towering dragon.
"The resemblance is rather uncanny isn't it?" Tannin joked, and patted the non-compliant Bova's back, "But you've guessed it. This is my son, Bova!"
"Wow, your…son…" Michael smiled, but caught on to those words again, 'Wow, after hearing that phrase said about somebody else and their relative, I wonder…the times that Grayfia-san, Aniki, that train conductor, and even Leviathan-sama said that to me…were they also referring to someone related to me? Nah, it sounds crazy, but maybe...'
Michael returned to listening about Tannin's son, Bova with a curious look on his face.
"He's the youngest out of my three sons and is known as a Hellraiser in the Underworld. His actions have earned him the title of "Bova the Destroyer". He has a reputation for stirring up trouble for the higher-ups by challenging guys that he deems worthy to fight. Bova this is Michael Hanamura, this generation's Red Dragon Emperor." Tannin introduced.
"So this brat's the Red Dragon Emperor, huh?" Bova didn't look all that impressed.
"Wait, you have kids, gramps? Wow, you really are old!" Michael shrugged the comment off and was amazed about Tannin's many offspring.
"I've lived a long life after all, kukuku! Plus, don't mind any outbursts he gives, he's still going through his rebellion phase."
Bova jerks himself away from Tannin, "Would you knock it off you, Old man! I already told you! I'm not going through a phase!"
"Yeah, yeah…!" Tannin laughed it off while Bova passively growls and crosses his arms.
"Well, if your gramps' kid then we'll see more of each other soon enough! Nice to meet you, Bova!" Michael stuck out his hand to the massive dragon.
"Peh!" Bova took a condescending glance at Michael and rudely spat at the ground.
"…Eh?" Michael grew an angered tick mark on his head as he forced himself to smile, "Wh-What was that just now?"
"So anyways, old man. What was the purpose you had for introducing me to this scrub." Bova asked.
"Oi, did you just call me a scrub?" Michael's rage was steadily increasing.
"Simple. From now on, I want you to help assist with Michael Hanamura here with training on the mountains." Tannin explained.
"Are you serious?"
"Are you serious?"
Both the young man and the dragon looked at each other before turning back to Tannin with narrowed eyes. Neither of them were pleased about this sudden change one bit, but Tannin didn't look to be joking about this.
"I'm always serious." Tannin stated.
"Listen, old man! I don't want to spend my precious time working with this little shit! Why should I even bother lending him a hand, anyways?" Bova growled.
"Yeah, Gramps! Why do I have to get help from the knock-off when you're supposed to be my trainer." Michael openly insulted Bova.
"What was that punk!? Care to fucking say that again!?"
"Gladly, leatherhead. Compared to the Gramps, you're a total knock-off!"
The two argued, but were stopped by Tannin.
"Quiet, both of you!" Tannin's yelling shut both the devil and the dragon up, "The two of you were paired because of how your personality align together. Though, I expected this bickering to happen, I still think that the two of you can learn some things from each other."
Tannin turned to Bova,
"Bova, when you're mentioning your precious time are you speaking about the times where you do nothing, but laze around doing nothing? Apart from challenging dragons and other stronger devils, you basically don't do much here. Your older brothers are keeping themselves busy by getting in touch with the Underworld community while you're flying around battling random opponents with no aim in sight." Tannin went in depth with Bova's problems.
"Here we go again with this talk…" Bova rolled his eyes.
"I know I might be nagging you, but it's the truth. You're less driven, and you need something to keep you preoccupied, so take the time to be Michael Hanamura's guide and sparring buddy from time to time. You may learn something valuable if you work hard with him."
Tannin kept the answer vague, and turned to Michael, "Youngling, you shouldn't be so picky when your given extra help. Although Bova isn't as strong as me yet, he's still quite a powerful dragon. He's even ranked amongst the higher ranked dragons. Out of my three boys, he's the strongest and yet the most rash compared to the other two."
"Who're you callin' rash, old fart!" Bova said.
"Really?" Michael asked for reassurance.
"Really. If you want to be taught how to fight like a dragon, then Bova is the excellent teacher for you. The two of you basically sync up with your personalities being so similar. Plus, it will be quite a pair for one of my offspring to be paired with a fledgling Red Dragon Emperor." Tannin nodded.
"Well, if you say so, then I guess I wouldn't mind that much." Michael shrugged, not having any sort of stance against that logic.
Too bad Bova had a stake against Tannin's logic though.
"Hold up just a minute, Old Man! I see what you're trying to do! You're trying to pawn me off to this newbie Red Dragon Emperor because you want me to be just like you, when you were the original Red Dragon Emperor's vassal."
Bova shook his head,
"Get real, already! Just because I don't have a clear-cut goal like you and my stupid elder brothers doesn't mean I want to take stride in your over glorified footsteps! I'm me and I'll follow a different path than you and my brothers, and for me to do that I'll have to beat the shit out of the rest of you to do it, too!"
'Wow, he's really determined about his dream. Being the youngest out of his brothers while being the son of an Ultimate Classed Devil must place a lot of pressure on him.' Michael became somewhat sympathetic of Bova until the dragon laid his furious sights on him.
"Plus, why should we even bother teaching this pipsqueak the ropes anyway? It's not like it will matter, he'll just die off sooner or later because of his eventual fight with the White One. Hell, even Aunt Tiamat might pop up someday to finish him off while we're not looking."
'Wait a sec, you mean that dragon bitch visits these mountains?' Michael was visibly surprised and looked to Tannin for answers, but found that he was purposely looking away, 'So that means, we're going to have to fight her again…'
Both Michael and Ddraig felt dread as they said,
"Dammit…"/[Dammit…]
"Besides the titles of the Red Dragon Emperor don't mean squat anymore. Have you seen how those humans used the power? No, have you seen how many humans who wielded the power died? They went insane beyond belief because they couldn't handle it, and what do you know this guy will do same, too. I refuse to acknowledge this kid at all because he'll just ride the coattails of his given title like the others before him." Bova belittled Michael, who was shaking in anger.
"Shut up! What do you know about me anyways, Leatherhead!" Michael's outburst took Bova by surprise, but the dragon didn't back down.
"What? Does the little pipsqueak not want to hear about the failing legacy of the Welsh Dragon anymore?" Bova snickered.
"You can say that. Just like I don't want to hear about your obvious inferiority complex towards gramps your brothers! Grow up, you're sounding like one of those cheesy delinquent characters on one of Koneko-chan's favorite shows! Plus, you're not even doing the delinquent character well at all, why don't you go take notes from an actual good delinquent character like Shirou!?"
Michael smirked as Bova was getting infuriated.
"So, the little guy has some bite behind his bark after all, but are you seriously stepping up to me?" Bova cracked his neck in an intimidating fashion.
"Heh, you really are lumping me with my past seniors. There's no way in hell I will let you run off after belittling my greatness! Now allow me to show you my guts that let me stand apart from Welsh Dragons of the past!" Michael cracked his knuckles.
Both Dragon and Devil were staring each other down as both allowed their auras to flare around them dangerously. Tannin could read their intentions from just looking alone, a fight was about to ensue and these two seemed to be too hard-headed to listen to reason at this point, so he swiftly flew a safe distance away from the mountaintop to spectate their fight.
Getting through to them with words was pointless for Tannin. These types of people only speak through their fists.
*FWOOOOOOOOOOOSH!*
Releasing a massive gulf of flames in the air, Bova warms himself up as Michael finishes stretching.
"Looks like I'll be the one to put down this era's Red Dragon Emperor! I'll prove to the old man how washed up that old dragon he used to serve really is!"
"Well, then I guess you're losing because I'm going to be much more than them and Ddraig combined! So, let's get it on Daddy's little princess!" Michael laughed.
[Dragon Booster!]
'I may not have my Balance Breaker, but I still have Ascalon and its dragon slayer properties. Plus, I can use my [Magnum] function for a more devastating attack.' Michael clenched his armored fist and assumed his stance.
'I may have lost some of the brute force of my balance breaker, but I still have Touki, and my Dragon shots and Dragon Break. If I can trick this guy with my small size, and use it to my advantage, then I can actually keep up with him!' Michael grinned.
"All right! Here I go!" Surrounding himself in touki, Michael took the lead and charged at Bova.
[Boost!]
'Focus the Dragon Slayer Aura and sync it with my touki! So, when I get in close range, I'll get him with this hard blow!'
Michael prepared his attack and was about to close the gap between him and Bova, but…
*FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!*
Almost instantly, Bova inhaled a huge amount of air and released a stream of flames that engulfed Michael. His coating of touki took the brunt of the attack, but he still received damage.
"Agh! Son of a bitch!" Michael rolled back and patted the fire off of him, frantically.
"Hahahahaha! Don't tell me that was your best! This fight's going to be in the ba-!"
"Cliché overconfidence opening! Dragon Shot!" Michael fired a beam of energy into Bova's right eye while he was gloating and forced the dragon to scream and grip his bleeding eye in pain.
"Agh! You dirty mother fuc-!"
"Hahahahahahahaha! Don't underestimate me you, second-rate delinquent bastard! I'll kick your ass in front of your daddy and give you a bigger inferiority complex!" Michael laughed, "So prepare yourself as I use my guts to defeat y-!"
"Monologuing in the middle of a battle! Chance!" Bova breathed out a huge ball of flames.
"Gyaaaaaa!" Michael just barely managed to dodge the incoming attack on his own, but was still unprepared and sustained some serious burns, "Damn that stings! You bastard, you can't just do MY thing!"
"Deal with it!"
"That's it no more holding back!"
"Agreed!"
"Hyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
"Huraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Both opponents wildly charged at each other with reckless abandon. The only thought that crossed their minds were how to beat the enemy in front of them black and blue. These two dragons were about to engage in a fierce fight that would shake the sturdy Dragon Mountains to the core.
XXX
Following the instructions given to him, Kiba warped from the Gremory Residence's garden to a desolate and corpse ridden battlefield with crows pecking and eating away at the rotting flesh.
Taking a look up into the sky confirmed for him that he was still in the Underworld, but sadly, he didn't know where this place was in Underworld.
The wasteland seemed to be completely devoid of life save for the crows.
It took Kiba a little while to get used to the smell of decomposing corpses and rotting flesh that's been baking in the sun for who knows how long. However, despite the being in a graveyard, he was intrigued by how the many weapons that littered the wasteland. Every sword, axe and lance were stabbed into the ground.
Wandering around aimlessly, Kiba searched for his instructor, "I can't seem to find anyone here, and this place is giving me a bad feeling. Just, where am I?"
"You're training ground for the next month." A voice echoed from above.
Kiba turned around to face Zethyr, the man was sitting on top of a large demonic skeleton imperiously looking down at the [Knight]. It took Kiba a moment to gather his bearings, he couldn't even detect that man's presence, and just being in his presence all of a sudden really overwhelmed him.
Neither him or Zethyr were speaking after the man's sudden reveal and it made the air around them tense.
"H-Hello, my name is Kiba Yuuto. Thank you for taking it out of your time to train. I hope we get along, well." Kiba pushed himself to make that introduction, otherwise the awkward silence would continue.
"I already know who you are, we met not too long ago after that meeting with the Three-Factions. So, there's no need for you to introduce yourself to me twice." Zethyr immediately responded to Kiba's introduction with some annoyance in his tone.
"R-Right." At this point, Kiba started to mentally kick himself after remembering that. He was so anxious that he spoke without thinking.
Noticing how nervous the young devil was, Zethyr sighed and hopped off the skull of the giant skeleton to walk ahead of Kiba, "Walk with me."
Breaking out of stupor, Kiba was surprised that his mistake wasn't ridiculed by the man, and quickly followed. The pair were walking straight for the center of the battlefield with Zethyr leading, and Kiba lagging behind him. Although it was his second time properly meeting the man, Kiba still couldn't help but feel honored to be in his presence.
He had heard stories about him from his master, Souji Okita about the Zethyr Lucifer the strongest swordsman in the Underworld. At first, Kiba couldn't believe that his master was the second strongest in the underworld until he was told more tales of Zethyr and his gift of being a true genius. The first being that he was a descendant of the Original Lucifer as a pure-blooded devil and the first within his family line to harness the Holy power the Original had before he lost it once God casted him out of heaven.
By attaining Holy power, he was able to fuse it with his demonic energy or use both powers separately; thus, making him the very first devil in history to ever use holy energy along with demonic powers. This achievement served as a sign of him surpassing the original Lucifer.
Although there was more to his story than that, Kiba didn't quite know much about Zethyr apart from the vague fact that his master told him that Zethyr was once an enemy to the New Maou Faction during the Great Devil Civil War as a ruthless leader, who matched even Sirzechs and Ajuka on the battlefield with his superb swordsmanship.
That is until he was defeated by an unlikely newcomer to the war, Son Kai, the Third Generation Sun Wukong, who kept clashing with Zethyr, interlocking into a consecutive number of ties on both sides of the battle with no clear victor. After that it was all a mystery as to why Zethyr was now with the New Maou faction rather than the Old Maou faction, but dwelling on that only made things complicated for Kiba.
He's already trying to get used to the man's appearance since he looks completely identical to his best friend's arch-rival, Vali. Kiba wanted to ask about their relation to one another, but remembered a painful memory before when Zethyr knocked him out just by mentioning Vali's name, so he kept quiet.
"We're here."
"Huh?"
Snapping himself out of his stupor, Kiba realizes that the barren wasteland they were walking through was covered in a thick black fog. The dark atmosphere sent a shiver up his spine as he saw nothing, but weapons and corpses around them.
"If you don't mind me asking," Kiba paused once he heard a dark moan from deep within the fog, "But where are we exactly?"
"As I said before this your training ground for the next month. We only have a few minutes before it gets here, so show me the fruits of training with that assignment I gave to you." Zethyr turned to face Kiba who was trying to get a grasp of their situation, but the lack of listening to his order annoyed.
"When I said show me your training results, I meant show it to me now." Zethyr emphasized that while subtly frightening Kiba with an intimidating glare.
"R-Right, sir…" Kiba pulled out the black katana that Zethyr bestowed to him and held it tightly to concentrate his demonic energy into the blade. The pressure around it increased as the edge looked sharper with all of the aura surrounding it.
"…Good." Zethyr leaned in to examine the blade and Kiba with intrigue, "I'm honestly surprised that you managed to figure it out. I was sure that I would have had to tell you how to properly sharpen this blade."
"Thank you." Kiba smiled.
"I wasn't complimenting you. I just stated a fact, you only just realized the true function and purpose of this sword and not the training it was meant for am I correct?" Zethyr said, harshly.
"Y-Yeah." Kiba lowered his head, meekly.
"I've heard stories about you from you last master, Okita. He tells me you're quite skilled with a sword and that you can practically be called an expert swordsman, but that's all going to end starting today because I don't sing praise or relish the fact that you know your way with a sword. In my eyes, you are still a novice."
Zethyr reached his hand out and received the katana back.
'Does that mean I'll be learning the basics from him?' Kiba gulped.
"But first let's get rid of this." Crushing the katana with his bare hand, Zethyr made the once powerful blade shatter into pieces. Kiba was shocked and Zethyr could tell by that expression that an explanation was in order,
"I assume you thought that I gave you some ancient sword of legend to train you. Well, that's wrong. That sword was a creation of mine using my demonic powers, and its main function was to release huge amounts of the wielder's demonic energy with each swing." Zethyr patted off any residual dust and said,
"And before you ask how I can make swords from out of thin air like your Sword Birth. First, tell me how you create your demonic swords."
"You mean the process of what's in my mind when I make one?" Kiba asked and received a nod, "Whenever I make a whole group of swords, I think of a variety of elements or designs that each weapon has. If I want a buster sized sword I create one, or if I want a rapier I create one. It's an easy process for me to go through."
"So, what you've told me is that Sword Birth helps you create a set number of swords without putting too much thought into the swords your creating." Zethyr said.
"Well, yes." Kiba began to feel worried.
"So, you basically account for sheer quantity over quality with your swords."
"Huh?"
"With the way you described it, you only have the designs of the blade, the attributes or elements, and sizes accounted for, but they have no quality. Sword Birth basically gives you full reign over these traits, except for quality such as composition, the quality of the sword's material, designating whether you want to dullen the sword's edge, lighten the weight of the sword and other steps to creating a sword." Zethyr went into full detail explaining Kiba's sacred gear flaws.
"Do you see where I'm going with this?"
"Hai."
"You rely on Sword Birth for the basic configuration of your swords. You can imagine and create a weapon you think seems to be effective, but it's not going to last without proper materialization. I use more steps to create a sword in mere seconds and yet the process would be exceedingly long with a total of an hour or more to create a good-quality sword for a normal person. There's also the fact that I pour in just enough demonic energy to increase its powers and any elemental attribute I want."
Zethyr explained as he created a pitch-black claymore with a red-edged blade, the blade was oozing with concentrated demonic energy and fire magic. Kiba's eyes were wide, but he gasped once Zethyr crushed that blade into dust, too.
"Quality beats quantity any day. Which is why many devils don't quite make use of materialization magic to create weapons. The process is too long and quite complicated for the normal mind to comprehend, and that's going to be part of what you'll be learning this month, too."
Zethyr explained.
"Do you really think that I can do something that complicated at the end of a month?" Kiba asked.
"No." Zethyr answered, honestly and took Kiba by surprise, "You're going to learn proper sword creation and that will take you years to be an expert of it. No, you're getting the gist of this training to figure for yourself later. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if you failed, but it would seem pathetic if my 8-year old daughter can go through half of these steps while you can barely go through the first three."
Kiba nodded, and began to sweat, he could already tell that the training will be extremely difficult.
"Now to warn you about another lesson you must learn yourself, and it involves the training you did before." Zethyr warned Kiba.
"Yes." Kiba nodded.
"That was my warning." Zethyr said, stoically.
"Is that really it?" Kiba sweatdropped.
"I already referred to your past training with that demonic sword I made. If you figured that out then you should figure out what to do next with the other "half"." Zethyr said.
"Other half?" Kiba repeated to himself, but stops any process of thinking once he heard the heavy quakes of the earth beneath him, and the air around him turned
"Ah, here comes your training partner." Zethyr faced forward and watched as the thick black fog slowly let up. It wasn't much at first, but Kiba could easily see something which resembled a pitch-black foot, and it was a very, very bony foot. Trailing his eyes up that very foot, Kiba looked up with his body completely struck with fear.
"What in the-!"
Before his very eyes, Kiba looked upon a 5-meter-tall Skeletal monster with the motif and horns of a devil. The creature was wielding four individual swords in order, yes, the monster had 2 extra appendages to wield two more strange looking swords that gave off an eerie aura. Just looking at the creature froze Kiba like a statue in fear, its malice and very presence was horrifying.
Before Kiba whited out, Zethyr stepped in to explain the monster before them, "This monster is known as the Sword Dancer. It's an ancient creature that has been known to travel throughout the Underworld and Human world for powerful opponents. With every victory and loss, it progresses and evolves its form to compensate for its past losses."
"So, something like this has been around for ages?"
"Yes, the corpses are a clear indicator. Didn't you notice how organized this battlefield was? With the weapons being aligned in a specific order." Zethyr pointed at the rows and rows of deadly tools around them.
"Sword Dancers collect both the corpses and weapons of its defeated enemies as a trophy. Through each battle, it's acquired the techniques needed for each blade it overcame." Zethyr explained.
"So, what your saying is we're basically in this creature's home?" Kiba gulped.
"Exactly."
"And you want me to battle it here for the next month?"
"Is that hesitation I hear?" Zethyr questioned.
"N-No, sir, I was just wondering how to defeat such a veteran of a monster." Kiba wondered to himself.
"You're not supposed to defeat him. Just focus on surviving." Zethyr shook his head, "This monster is too advanced for someone like you to just "defeat" for this creature to be successfully killed you need to best it in combat 3 consecutive times. If you can't fulfill that task, then you either die or run and fight another day. You should know which option you should take if you had enough."
"R-Right."
"Now if you'll excuse me." Zethyr prepares a magic circle for himself.
"What, you're not going to stay and observe?" Kiba had expected to be taught more from the man, together. Seeing him leave so suddenly was unsettling.
"I did promise to train you, but I'm training you the way I see is exceptional. I'm not going to be holding your hand the entire time, you get your own results while I study your Balance Breaker's abnormality to control a holy element. That was my main goal the entire time, whatever you learn yourself is your own business, not mine. I'll be back halfway through the month to see the fruits of your training." Zethyr gave Kiba the cold shoulder without the least hint of sympathy, "There's a forest nearby this site, so if your ever in need of food and a less corpse filled place to sleep in then there it is."
"Ngh…!"
Kiba could feel his hands trembling in fear, but resolved himself to try and muster up the courage he had to deal with the challenge placed in front of him, he thought, 'I can't let the others get ahead of me. Especially, Michael-kun, he'll surely give me an earful if I was the only one who came back without results!'
Readying himself, in his stance, Kiba creates a holy-demonic sword and prepares to pounce on the monster, but hesitated once his trainer decided to give him some parting words.
"Don't feel too discouraged if you're forced to retreat. At your age, I tried to face this creature myself and while I was victorious with each progressing fight, I still had to force myself to refrain from challenging that monster. It's evolution and growth with swordsmanship was getting quite closer to my level back then. So, take caution whenever you feel your back is against the wall."
Although Zethyr was showing a moment of kindness, Kiba was too caught up thinking of another thing he mentioned.
'This is bad, extremely bad! So, this thing even faced a young Zethyr-sama in the past and still survived? This means that he evolved with the knowledge that Zethyr-sama had in the past as well. Forget trying to survive, how will I even put up a fight with this thing?' Kiba was sweating in fear, but kept hold of his blade.
"Don't disappoint me, and try not to die." With that direct goodbye stated, Zethyr immediately leaves Kiba with the towering being that was blindly stalking through the fog filled battlefield. Now left alone with the malicious monster, Kiba could only hear its deafening moans and heavy steps.
Taking a few staggering steps forward, Kiba initially caught the Sword Dancer's attention as its entire head snaps back to look him dead in the eye.
The creature's ominous red eyes seemed to have peered through Kiba's soul with just a single glance. Neither of them made a move, they just continued staring at each other for a prolonged period of time before Kiba accidentally taps a finger on the handle of his blade and unintentionally beckons at the Sword Dancer.
*KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!*
Reacting in turn, the sword dancer released an ear-piercing shriek before charging straight for Kiba. The monster's arms released the blade that it was currently equipped with and extended its four arms to grab 4 new ones that were scattered about in the field.
As the creatures lessened the distance between them, Kiba fully comprehended the situation he was in. Starting now, he wasn't going to fight against just some monster, but match blades with a professional infamous swordsman!
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Retribrutus
Retribrutus Next Chapter- The days of arduous training has begun! Hold on, you want me to take *you* as my vassal! (Part 2)
This chapter was made to be a two parter unlike the others where I had to break them into parts because of the site's word count.
So, did anyone get the Tales of series reference with the Sword Dancer? If you did then you are AWESOME! Pat yourselves on the back, and for those who were surprised about Bova making an appearance you can already guess what's about to happen based on the chapter's title alone, but that conclusion is for Part 2!
I hope you guys have a wonderful day, and stay safe! I'm Out so Peace Out and have a great day!
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