"WWWAAAHHHH!"
The scream reverberated in the woods as Ise went about like a prisoner escaping for his life, which was a pretty accurate description considering his current circumstances.
"PWEH! TWACK! CRACK!"
An arrow made of steel narrowly missed his head and hit a tree, causing the trunk to crack and collapse under the weight of its top, barely missing Ise by a foot as it crashed to the ground.
"WAH! Are you trying to kill me, you damn handsome?!"
"Yep."
"Don't say it like it is a walk in a park for you damn it!" Ise yelled in the air as he mentally cursed Shirou with all his might. That caused him dearly as he ran over a wire and triggered a trap that released a heavy log aimed for his body. He dived to the ground in time for the log to miss his head and smashed the other tree in its way.
'Holy Shit! How the heck did he set that trap up before this?!' Ise could only look at the damaged tree in shock before scrambling to his feet and making his way to the appointed spot that would end the game. The sound of a bowstring alerted him in time to summon the gauntlet and knocked away the arrow aimed for his legs, before jumping away from another arrow and crashed through the bushes and land right where he needed to be.
"Okay, you have made it. Practice is over." Shirou's voice echoed in the empty clearing to alert him, making Ise let out a sigh of relief and collapsed on his back while panting heavily. He had spent the earlier part of the morning escaping from Shirou's arrows and traps, and he had to do it on an empty stomach and a bottle of water to hydrate himself.
A soft thud made him lazily turn his head lightly to find Shirou having landed on the ground and made his way towards him. Seriously, he did not know where Shiou learned this training style, but it was a miracle he survived the whole thing.
"Pretty good, you have managed to last out longer than expected, and you made it within the time limit." Shirou nodded lightly after coming to his side. "Better get up now. The lactic acid building up inside would stop you for a few hours, so you need to get moving. And I am so not carrying you back, you need to haul your ass."
"You are a devil!" Ise cursed as he panted on the ground.
"Nope, I'm just human, you're the devil here."
...
"Welcome back, you two!" Asia greeted us with a very bright smile on her face as she handed us towels and a bottle of water for refreshment.
"AH! Asia, I am so soothed by your presence!" Ise started weeping while throwing me a disbelieving glare. "This damn guy is relentless in his attacks. Who the hell taught you that style of training, Master Roshi or something?"
"I don't know any Master Roshi, but this is the type of training that one would need if going against someone with a lot more experience in fighting matches." I wiped my brow with the towel and took a sip of water. "If anything, I am actually going very easy on you for this bit, since you are still getting used to your Magic Circuits running inside you, and I can't bring up the level until you are ready."
"If that is the case, then I don't even want to know what will be the next level?!" Ise shivered in fear as he backed away from me.
This was currently the third time I had returned for their training, and so far things were going rather smoothly. Ise was apparently made of sterner stuff than anticipated as he awoke a few hours later from the treatment, allowing him to take part in the training Rias had planned in the beginning, so I ended up starting his training a lot earlier. Based on what I was told and what I had seen first-hand, the treatment was a success; his stamina had improved significantly to the point Rias had to include other forms of physical training for him to handle.
His magical stats also seemed to have improved significantly given the few bits of talk I gathered about his magecraft training with Akeno, though I was a little unsettled by the manner both Rias and Akeno gave their report with the type of expression I had associated with Rin's teasing mood, certainly not helped when I saw Ise do his practice on some fruits.
By the Root, what have I unleashed on the unsuspecting population of females?
All that said and done, he was by far the most untalented person I have seen to date, and I have unfortunately seen many in my lifetime, myself included. Despite the improvements, he was seriously in a bad position where he could not handle going against some of the more dangerous types I had identified from Raiser's group, and that was not counting the blonde dude in. There was only so much training I could give for the time being, but if Ise wanted to defeat that guy, he was going to need way more.
"Welcome back, the both of you." I turned to find Rias and Akeno making their way to our side, subtly noting Ise was suddenly a little more energetic as he looked at her. "So how is his training going along?"
"Quite well, at least he managed to last for one and a half hours straight as compared to the initial 15 minutes from the first trial, and though he barely dodged my traps and attacks, his reflexes are honed."
"That is good I suppose, but I am guessing there are still some issues." Rias let out a light sigh.
"Currently he still needs more work, also I am still going easy on him for his body to get adjusted." I looked around to find someone but can't find that person. "I suppose Kiba is still a little wary around me huh?"
"Sorry about that, though to be fair, you having taken some of his swords may have contributed to his behaviour." Rias shrugged as she replied back. I can't exactly argue on that part; for whatever reason, those damn blades kept following me everywhere to the point I had no choice but to store them in my dimensional pockets so that I don't get caught with swords in the open.
"Well, he will have to deal with it his own way, quickly if possible. Otherwise we won't make any progress on his side" I replied as I took another swing of the water. "I think for now I will focus on getting Ise to have a better handle on his circuits."
"Ah, finally something less lethal to my body." Ise let out a sigh of relief. "Still a lesson in control magic energy, ah! I mean 'Od' by your terms, maybe with better control I can do that. HEHEH!" His expressions as he muttered that out was all the indication I needed to direct a very serious glare at him.
"I may have agreed to train you and help you unlock your circuits, but if you seriously think for one minute that I would let you abuse my teachings with your perverted thought patterns, I would make you the first test subject of some of my more destructive experimental spells." That got him to drop his expressions and gulp nervously at my threat.
"Okay, point taken." He lightly coughed before proceeding. "So what will you teach me besides that unusual meditation method? I hope there is something practical coming up."
"Well glad you are at least motivated." I let out a smirk to show him what I had in mind. "Because I am going to make you beg for mercy by the time this lesson is over." It was utterly satisfying to see him go very pale at my words.
Thank you Rin for all your lessons in smiling.
"Ah that is nice of you, Emiya-san!" Asia beamed very cheerfully, clearly ignorant of the amount of pain I was going to inflict on Ise. "I thank the Almighty for this ~ Ouch!" Suddenly she grabbed her head with both her hands while wincing from whatever pain that hit her.
"Whoa there, are you okay?" I stepped forward to put a hand on her head and checked for any injuries. "I don't see any wounds, did you hit your head against something?"
"Oh yeah, you were not around during one of our lessons." Rias lightly tapped her head as she remembered something. "You see, as Devils we are basically the enemies of God, so in that aspect we cannot give any prayers or praise to God without some type of feedback." Rias let out a resigned smile at a disappointed Asia. "Technically speaking, we all get some form of pain whenever we hear someone giving a prayer or having a Holy Object, but if the one doing the prayers and blessings is a Devil, the pain would be the most severe."
"Well, guess that sucks big time for her." I turned to Asia who suddenly put on an expression that made me think of a little cat about to get serious with a toy mouse.
"PPPIII! I am not giving up, I want to continue praying!" With that, Asia got on to her knees and started reciting every name associated with God. "Oh Dear God~ Ouch! The Almighty~ Ouch! My Father of OUCH! My Deliverer OWIEE!"
"Ah dear child, I think you better stop doing that before you get hurt too much!" I tried to gently restrain her from hurting herself. I was feeling a little guilty at seeing her reactions to the pain as something rather cute, not to mention a little concerned that she might get brain damage from her constant attempts to pray. But Asia would not have any of that, and ploughed on her way.
"My Faithful Creator Ouch! My God of Fathers Owiee~ AAAAHHH! MY LORD, PLEASE GRANT MY PRAYER!" She let out a slightly frustrated yell before pausing to realize something. "Eh~ My Lord?"
"No way~" I turned to Rias and the others who were looking at her in shock while I continued massaging Asia's head. I was not sure what was going on, but given the manner Asia seemed to stop having pains, I am guessing her stubbornness paid off.
"Oh My Lord, I thank you for the great fortune that you have bestowed on us for having Emiya-san help out in our training!" Asia gave a quick prayer and waited tentatively to check for any feedback, then spread her arms out in joy. "YA~ I can pray to my lord now!"
"T~ that is impossible." Rias muttered softly. "How can she be fine?"
"Errr…" Ise looked at Asia and Rias, before looking up with a thoughtful expression. "Erm, My Lord~ OWW!" Ise let out a yell as he grasped his head. "Okay that hurt."
"How did that happen?" Akeno turned to me with a raised eyebrow. I merely shrugged my shoulders.
Good for Asia to be able to pray again, but this was so not my problem.
...
Hey guys I really need you to throw some power Stones ;)
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