C237: Training Arc
Alt title Teaser: Path Forward
Date published: 7/9/2025.
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"Come on, Attack me like you did against that servant. The faster you get comfortable with that fighting style, the better. That will also help you integrate with the power of the weakened seal as your natural talent will be overflowing within you. Don't let it break out completely as you will mindlessly attack everyone here." Axel explains the situation to his son
"Everyone?" Washio nervously asks as he looks at the still sleepy Sakura who is sitting beside his mother.
"Everyone, in fact, your dragon power originated from a mindless monster that later became a god under my power, so while you have that divine dragon aspect, the base instincts also flow through you. Which means you might target the weakest person here to emotionally toy with the others."
"Sounds like a smart monster," Washio nervously comments as Dragon scales and claws envelop his own human arms.
"There are a few subspecies that are smarter than others and the one you bear the power of is the nesting type. Slower movement but that means their breath and physical attacks are much stronger." Axel explains a bit further as he creates a spiritual diagram of a Valgang Dragon. Washio studies the dragon for a few moments as he feels his body heating up as the energy gets used to flowing through him now.
Before, he had adrenaline flowing through him which made it harder for him to notice any of this. He was simply getting used to the transformation and his innate power, slowly but surely increasing his control. Yet now he is experiencing the other end of the spectrum, more power and less control.
BANG
His first attack against his father sends him flying wide due to overestimating the power creep he is experiencing, sending him crashing against the walls of the guest courtyard. The impact does fully wake Sakura up as she quickly gets up to speed on the situation and feels that it's her fault for not properly training Washio. She feels that she is at fault for endangering Washio by inadvertently getting him mixed up with the grail war.
Washio himself rubs his head from the pain of crashing into the weak paper styled door. In fact the primary pain is that he crashed into the barrier his father set up that prevented Washio from breaking anything inside the house.
"Hmm, I should have made the barrier just in front of the door, now we need to replace the door." Axel says with a hint of disappointment in himself for not thinking of this. His thoughts are mostly oriented like this due to [Raphael] having worked in the background his whole life to assist in integrating his power much faster than anyone else who could have received similar boosts. It made him much more overconfident in his abilities and integrating new powers.
As such, he lacks a proper understanding that others cant get used to massive boosts in power like what Washio just demonstrated by sending himself flying just now.
He at least snaps his fingers to bring Washio back to the courtyard and then moves the barrier closer so he at least isn't flying outside for anyone to see. Thinking of this, Axel makes the barrier similar to the Magus barriers and nobody from the outside can see inside.
Washio spends a few minutes getting used to simply walking with his dragon aspects. Naturally he manifested his inner 'Learn to Fly' (old flash game) aspect. He soon stomps his foot down as his first real strike lands on Axels wooden sword due to the father blocking it and pushing him back.
"There are multiple ways you can utilize your draconic power, there is the Swift Style where you dash around, occasionally landing strikes but most importantly, ensuring you don't get hit at all. This might be hard for you since it requires patience which you don't have alot of and it requires time to practice which we also don't have." Axel keeps deflecting multiple attacks as he describes various fighting styles Washio could adopt to incrementally improve his power.
"A second alternative is the Bold Style, where you train your physical body to outright dismiss any and all forms of attacks AGAINST you, yet this method is also very painful and time consuming which means very few creatures, not just dragons can handle such a fighting style. The benefits are there as you have tempered your body beyond normal limits, your strength also naturally progresses along with it. That alone makes you a force of destruction yet we also don't have any time for this. Your endurance might also lack in this regard as any pain you envision, multiple that by one hundred." Axel describes a second method and Washio immediately thinks of tanks in RPGs' yet he doesnt quite accept it since he cant think of himself as being comparable to that type of nesting dragon, so slow but powerful.
"Then there is the Mana Style. It focuses more on meditation and infusing your mana into your body to empower yourself. It's better for immediate gains and can copy parts of both aforementioned styles but its end game is still that of a mage. The meditation is focused around control which you need but to achieve proper results is dependent on your own efforts. Though at the current level of your seal, you will be gaining tons of purified draconic mana in your body and that will only get worse as you go along." Axel explains the final of the base formats for how Washio can progress.
"Worse?" Washio notices the weird word choice. But his father simply nods as he explains. "Indeed, the more draconic mana you have in your current state, the less control you will have over your own mind and body, falling prey to the draconic side of your own wants and desires." He explains and Washio suddenly gains a deep red blush as Axel comments on it.
"Pervert"
"I'm not" Washio attempts to deny any such claim but his blush only deepens.
"Aha, sounds like something a pervert would say." Axel says with a monotone as Washio swipes at his legs with his tail that grew out just now. Axel can see how his son is quickly acclimating to his newfound power.
"Anyways….wouldn't the mana style be the best for me?"
"There is no best, there is simply what you choose to set up as your own pain. These styles I mentioned are only the guideline for you. You are able to pick and choose any single point of any of these to form your own style. The style that uniquely belongs to the one known as Washio Murasaki-Gram. No pressure of course. It's not like this whole situation could have been avoided in the first place if you didn't let the heat get to you."
"Don't remind me!" His words seem to piss the child off as he quickly boosts himself forward by jumping and then slamming his tail on the ground to propel himself forward for a dropkick towards Axel's face but the boy simply feels the side of his leg being swatted away by a wooden sword as he is diverted away from the boys father who still has a calm expression on his face.
The tense atmosphere continues until Washio calms down, only for his fear and anger to spike once more as his father waves around a floppy disk (ancestor to flash drives) with the title, "Washio's secret wish". As if paired with his fathers actions, his own mother brings out a projector that is compatible with that era of tech. Sakura looks at their mother in confusion, asking "whats that for"
"A little surprise" Kaoruko responds as she returns to hugging Sakura affectionately. Sakura, who is now in her teens with half blue and half black hair has a confused expression but kaoruko turns her attention back to Washio who has begun to channel his mana throughout his body.
Using the brief explanation of the mana Style, he boosts his speed to be twice as fast as before. The reason it is limited to only twice is due to Washio still not understanding that he is now a half dragon being. He is still assuming he is human and thus flowing it through his original muscles and not the augmented one he receives whenever he undergoes dragon-ification.
The end result is that while the few bits of mana that flows through his dragon parts does get a boost, it is instead hindered by his human muscles. Of course Axel would not immediately correct this as he is compiling a list of things that Washio should work on.
The floppy is eventually put away as Axel puts his sword down. Washio nearly collapses from exhaustion, especially since he had not eaten since breakfast. Now he is covered in sweat and starving, panting from exhaustion as his mana runs out from overexerting himself so much today.
Axel summons some spring water for his son who gulps it down, though he did cough in surprise as the magical/divine essence within the water shocked him at how delicious it was as his body returned to its optimal state once more. "What was that?" The child questioned but Axel doesnt offer a reply as he simply sets down a folding chair in front of his still sitting son.
"Let's go over what mistakes you made just now. The first most obvious being that all your attacks are very easily telegraphed, which means that your enemy can know how you're attacking multiple seconds before you even land a strike." Axel begins the list properly.
"The second major issue is your emotions but im not here to turn you into an emotionless robot hungry for vengeance against Caster. It doesnt suit you, but what you do have to work on is controlling those emotions to not let them overwhelm you again. This is especially dangerous due to the feeling of pride and possessiveness you are feeling from your dragon half." He explains the second one which can be considered even worse than the first but Washio was not aware of how many issues his father was actually going to tell him.
"The third is that due to your emotions or maybe because your mind is separating things by necessity, you never attempted to integrate your archery skills…which you had been honing for nearly a decade of your life into your fighting style. As you are now, you're more beast than man. That is a dangerous thought to have as it is a step forwards you losing complete control."
"Fourth problem…"
"Fifth problem…"
One after another, Axel explains each of Washio's flaws which really hurts him emotionally as the child sighs in misery.
"Due to all these issues, your mother shall teach you spell casting and mana control during the mornings while I'll train your physique for the next few days."
"But what about the war?"
"Ill help you get in contact with another master who might be willing to cooperate with you but it will be up to you to negotiate. Due to the rules, I can only help you organize the meet and the rest will be up to you. Make sure to train hard during this time." Axel states as if it is fact and then walks away as he has already done his part during this small evening, the rest is up to his wife to teach. Sakura too of course, of course, Axel isn't so rude as to continue disturbing her sleep. So he prepares a bed and pillow for her in case she passes out mid lesson.
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At the same time, Far away, a cloaked figure is floating in the great expanse of space, a blue-green glow with a hint of black and red enveloping them as one of the figure's eyes takes on a cross-shaped pupil. The figure is floating just beside Earth yet it's different from the Earth it had originally come from nor the Danmachi world it had been hanging around at for a long time. This current earth is encompassed with sunshine and rainbows while the primary sentient species is that of colorful ponies.
The eye seems to rotate and in the next moment the earth itself seems to shift and it's form changes. The figure spots that this earth is primarily made of three continents and a collection of smaller islands. The most noteworthy thing is the assortment of factions with humans and other humanoid intelligent races making up some sort of Alliance while the other group is led by orcs but also includes many bestial creatures like Taurens and other races and this faction was known as the Horde.
"Where oh where did my little piggy go?" The cloaked figure asks rhetorically as he doesnt expect an answer in the midst of space.
"Oink" His own body seems to randomly respond as the figure begins to tremble whilst covering their own forehead with their hands.
"SHUT the FUCK UP" He yells out at himself as he soon calms down and returns to his search as he scans planet after planet until he finally spots a version of earth that has two moons, except one of them has living sentient beings on it. He can sense the immense spatial flowing back and forth into this moon.
He can recognize the soul signature that is connected to this world but also how there are two of them. One on the moon and the other on Earth. Though as he senses deeper, he finds the original soul. The one he had kicked off during his initial travels across the galaxy and messing around with the river of reincarnation.
"Found you little puppy"
"Woof"
The figure breathes in as he seriously states, "Id totally kill myself and the only reason I don't is my fear that You would follow me whether I end up. And that goes double for you too" The figure grabs at a dull red gem that is embedded in his chest. Pulling on the gem only causes his skin and muscles to stretch in response and when the figure loses strength and lets go, does the gem return to its original place with no difference, appearing as if nothing had actually happened.
"Insane in the membrane 🎵"
"At least sing the entire FUCKING SONG"
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Word count: 2443
Drop a comment if you wanna judge my writing or the story. I'll try to respond, especially if you're confused or anything.