A New Motivation: Chapter 18
Another day, another rigorous session of slamming my sword against my teacher's.
The forest rang with the sounds of steel on steel as Souji and I ran through the thicket, poking and prodding at one another as we looked for an opening. We kept our battle confined to a small area, but we never stopped moving, slowing only to change direction before kicking it into high gear once more.
I knew without being told that I reeked of sweat. My hair had been tied back and my usual outfit had been exchanged for a simple t-shirt that could probably fill a bucket of wrung out properly. My numb hands were wrapped in tape which was probably the only thing that kept my weapon from flying out of my loose grip every time I swung it.
Today's lesson was on stamina, and how to keep fighting once you were one-hundred percent gassed. After all, an enemy wasn't going to wait for you to catch your breath to kill you, so I needed to make it so even while exhausted, I was still a force to be reckoned with.
Fittingly, this was without a doubt the most exhausting exercise so far. Souji wasn't focused on beating me, more like beating me down, staying on me no matter how much distance I tried to gain. As long as I kept my sword in my hands, the exercise kept going, and if I dropped it, then I got a painful reminder why that was a bad idea.
It was an exercise meant to train my mind just as much as my body. It required an incredible amount of discipline to keep going when every part of your body wanted to give out. My arms shook from the weight of the Yamato and my legs felt like jelly for almost the stability they provided me. My head was pounding, dehydration brought on my profuse sweating making me see stars every time I closed my eyes. It was awful, but I blocked it all out, focusing on the silver sword and cocky grin of my opponent as we danced through the vegetation.
I wasn't sure how long had passed. Time became nothing but an afterthought, an illusion of the mind that was discarded in favor of defense and offense. Souji was the kind of opponent that required every bit of your attention, and this time he wasn't holding back nearly as much as he usually did.
A harsh strike on the flat of Yamato sent the sword into the ground. It sliced through cleanly, barely disturbing the dirt as if the earth itself didn't even know it was cut. I wrenched the sword out of the ground, the task feeling herculean despite having done it a million times before, and I managed to place it between myself and Souji 's sword just in time to deflect his second strike, sending his blade careening to the side with a flick of the wrist.
I moved to capitalize on the opening but fate had other plans as my shoe snagged on a tree root caused me to undershoot my lunge and fall on the ground as Souji stepped to the side. The impact knocked the wind out of me and more importantly, the sword out of my hands. I tried to grab it, but the moment my body stopped moving, it apparently decided that enough was enough and completely shut down. All I could do was twitch my fingers pitifully, staring at the sword that was just out of reach.
Luckily, my trainer decided to take mercy on me for once and didn't immediately bark at me to get up. Instead, as he saw me laying there like a dog too tired to get up and get his favorite toy, he called an end to the exercise.
“I’d say that's enough for today.” Souji sheathed his sword with a grin, watching me gasp for breath. “I half expected you to fall over in exhaustion halfway into our exercise, but you really pushed through. Six hours of near-constant battle isn't bad, kid. Not bad at all.”
“I can't feel my legs.” I groaned pitifully, “Or my arms.”
“That'll pass. I remember when my master did this exercise with me. You'll recover faster on your feet.”
A strong hand wrapped around my arm and pulled me to my feet. They nearly fell out from under me again, but Souji’s hand kept me steady. He waited a second, letting me get comfortable on my feet so I didn't fall over again.
“Are you alright?” He asked, and I nodded somewhat hesitantly. “Good to hear. Let's go see how your friend is doing with her training.”
I followed Souji unsteadily and together we made our way back to where our fight had originally begun. I stumbled a few times, tripping over knotted roots and fallen branches, knocked loose by our brawl, but after a few minutes of walking my feet became sure again and my gait steadied to something resembling my natural stride.
As we pushed through the forest, subtle vibrations echoed through the ground, slowly growing stronger the longer we walked. The localized earthquakes were accompanied by sharp cracks that shook the leaves on the trees, sending them careening to the ground where they rested, jumping periodically as the sounds continued.
“Looks like she's still going at it. That's good. It's been a while since I checked up on her.” Souji commented as we neared the source of the sound.
We pushed through the thick leaves of a bush and into a clearing beyond. My partner for the day, Koneko, was standing only a few feet away, Nekomata features on full display as she slammed her fists into a rocky cliff with a neutral expression on her face.
Since things had been cleared up about Kuroka and her true intentions that fateful day, Koneko was much less wary about using her natural abilities than she was in canon. She wanted to learn to control that part of herself so that could become stronger and hopefully one day bring her sister back.
Embracing her natural abilities granted her enhanced strength beyond even what her rook piece gave her. Nekomata weren't known for their physical prowess ,at least as far as I was aware, but the extra energy she had access to increased her strength at least tenfold. That meant the first order of business was learning to control that strength so she didn't accidentally hurt herself or someone else while training.
The goal of her exercise may not have been apparent at first, but the shattered cliffs around her gave a glimpse into its true purpose. Even before her boost, Koneko could break stone with her bare knuckles. After it, she could do it with the flick of her wrist. Before she could go back to full-contact sparring, she had to learn to rein in some of that excess strength so she didn't accidentally break one of us.
And she was already making great strides, it seemed. As she pounded away at the stone with bruised knuckles and a steely determined look on her face, only the barest damage could be seen where her fists made contact. The ground shook and the cliff wall rumbled, but it did not crumble like it had so many times before.
Souji made his presence known with a loud whistle as we stepped into the clearing. His sudden appearance startled Koneko, causing her to thrust her fist into the wall with much more force than intended. It broke straight through, creating a sizable hole in the surface of the cliff that matched all of the ones before it, and she gave him an annoyed look as she wrenched her fist out alongside a healthy amount of shattered stone.
Koneko’s new ears flicked with irritation as she glared at Souji but the man just laughed, “Looks like you're making pretty good progress there.”
“I was.” Koneko huffed, "Until you scared me and made me lose focus. All of that banging and sword fighting made it hard to concentrate too.”
“Consider it part of the exercise. Controlling your strength should be unconscious on your part. You don't want to reduce your teammates to a pulp just because you got startled during a spar.”
Souji stepped forward, examining the wall that Koneko had been punching. He ran his hand along its right surface, feeling the cracks in the stone, “You still held back, even if just a little bit. I'd say you're probably ready for the next part of your training.”
Koneko looked at him in surprise, “Already? But I just started.”
“You have, but we don't have much time before you all go back home. It's my job to help you get stronger, but that strength means nothing if you don't have access to all of it.”
Souji stepped away from Koneko and I to the middle of the clearing where he planted himself on the ground, legs crossed over one another. He motioned for Koneko to join him and the girl did so, sitting across from him uncertainly.
Though my training was over and I desperately needed a shower, I decided to stick around to watch this next stage in Koneko’s, curiosity filling me as I took an observer's position to watch the two.
“I'm going to show you how to access some of that natural power that you’ve unlocked.” Souji explained as he placed his sword on the ground beside him, “As a Devil, you automatically draw on your demonic magic whenever you need something done. If you want to use your Yokai strength as well, you need to know how to find it under all that other stuff.
“You know how to teach me how to do that?”
Souji smirked, “Sure do. While I myself may not be a Yokai, I have some pretty good knowledge on how they work.” He raised a hand, glowing with a strange, ethereal energy that I had never seen nor felt before, “And I have a little help.”
The glow detached from his body in a seemingly endless stream of bright blue energy. It lengthened and thickened, growing only brighter as more was brought out of whatever well of magic it had been summoned out of. It bunched into a pillar just beside Souji, standing taller than the man himself as it seemed to just float there, becoming brighter with every second.
After a long moment, the glow coalesced into a humanoid form, though not exactly. It was a tengu, with the long nose and thick, feathered wings that all of his kind were said to have, alongside a thick beard that hung down to the middle of his chest. He was wearing a long robe and a band of large beads were wrapped around his neck, seeming almost monklike in appearance if not for his furrowed brows and deep glare that seemed almost etched into his face.
“So, it’s finally time.” His voice sounded like it was coming from multiple places all at once as he spoke, a distant echo like someone lost in a cave calling for help, “You certainly took your time, swordsman. I expected to be summoned a tenday ago.”
“We hit a few stags in the road like I told you we would. These things don’t just happen over night, you know.” Souji turned to us, gesturing lazily at the man he had seemingly summoned, “This is Shinsato. One of many spirits that call my body home and if you believe me, probably also the nicest of the bunch.”
“I simply recognize the futility of beating against the walls of an invincible cage, unlike my brethren." Shinsato’s eyes bore into Koneko like a drill, “So this is the one I am to instruct? She does not seem very impressive, but what can I expect from someone who denies the very blood running through her veins.”
Koneko hung her head but her voice was steady, “Thank you for helping me.”
“Hmph! Not as if I had a choice in the matter.” Shinsato grunted as he knelt down, taking the same position as Souji. His body weight didn’t even disturb the grass around him, not a single blade swaying as he planted himself upon the ground, “You should know that rejecting your nature for so long will make this task immensely more difficult. This would normally come as natural to you as breathing, but your body has acclimated to the demonic mana running through your veins and suppressed what is there. You will have to draw it out by force.”
“But once it’s out, it should be as easy to use as your Devil magic. Maybe even more.” Souji added on, lifting the mood slightly.
“What about senjutsu? What if I accidentally use that instead?” Koneko asked, a slightly worried expression on her face. It seemed that even though she knew the truth about Kuroka, some part of her still feared the power.
Shinsoto snorted, as if the very idea insulted him, “Senjustu is not an art that is accessed accidentally, child. It takes training and more importantly, an intimate knowledge of your own power. Even if you sought to purposefully draw on it, you would not manage anything in your current state. Now let us cease this prattle and commence. Being out here takes a great deal of energy.”
“My energy.” Souji said, but the tengu ignored him, closing his eyes as Koneko did the same.
For the next hour or so, Shinsoto carefully instructed Koneko, teaching the girl how to draw out her inner power. It was kind of boring to watch honestly, but the subtle differences between what he was doing and my own magical training was enough to keep me watching until the end.
“And now that you see that power,” Shinsato instructed quietly, his voice a mere whisper that ran across the clearing, “that well of energy that is yours and yours alone, it is up to you to shape it. Mold it to your desires and manifest it upon the waking world.”
There was a moment, an infinitesimally small stretch of time no quicker than a blink, where Koneko’s face seemed to shift in panic, as if something had gone wrong, but it was gone in an instant, making me wonder if it was ever there in the first place. A moment later, a gentle blue aura seeped from her very pores, surrounding her in a soft glow that seemed almost serene in comparison to the demonic energy that I was used to.
“Well done. You found it faster than I expected. Guess your body wasn’t as eager to reject its true nature as your mind.” Shinsato seemed satisfied by her quick progress, gazing upon her with a bit more respect than before, “That being said, you have a long way to go before you are anywhere near the level of even the most intermediate of my students.”
“That was a compliment, by the way. Don’t let the insult at the end throw you off.” Souji smirked as Shinsato grumbled under his breath, “You did good kid. You might be a natural at this."
“Unlikely.” Shinsato said as the glow faded from Koneko’s body and the girl opened her eyes. There was a soft smile on her face, peaceful almost, and I found one crossing my own lips at the sight of it.
“Now then!” Souji clapped his hands, grinning widely, “How about we see about putting that energy to use?”
~~~
When training was finished, the peerage usually did their own things to cool down and get ready for bed. I knew Akeno and Rias preferred to take a long bath in the springs, and sometimes Koneko even joined them. Kiba disappeared into his room, usually emerging just in time for dinner. I usually took a shower and hung out with whoever was available until dinner, usually Akeno or Kiba.
Tonight that routine had changed. Instead of going off on their own, the peerage convened in the living room, gathering together for a night of fun after a week of training. It was the kind of relaxed, silly fun that only teenagers, and Rias's servants had even gone so far as to prepare pizza for the special event: a movie night.
Choosing from the selection of films I brought from my world, we all cozied up on the chairs and couches scattered around the room. I chose one of the couches, settling in right beside Akeno as the five of us watched the movie playing on the massive television that had been set up a long the far wall.
The movie that had been chosen, Iron Man, was one that I had seen multiple times already but there was something to be said about watching a classic with good friends. Nobody else has seen the movie like I had so it was nice to share something like this with them all. This wasn’t the only movie I had planned tonight, just the first. We had more than enough time, after all.
“The effects here are really good.” Rias commented as we watched Tony escape the terrorist's camp in the Mark 1, “That suit looks so slow and clunky, but I actually believe it could block bullets, you know?”
Marvel existed in this universe, but relative to my own, they were only getting started on their cinematic universe. If things went according to my memory, it'd take a few years for things to really get going. Iron Man 1 came out just last year, after all; they had to build a bit of a rapport with the public before they could start rolling out films like a well-oiled machine.
I didn't really want to wait that long to share some of my favorite films with my friends, so it was a good thing I brought some with me.
“This is the first movie of three, correct?” Kiba asked as Tony face-planted in a sand dune, “Are we going to watch them all?”
I glanced over at Kiba, sitting comfortably in an armchair a few feet away, “You getting bored, Kiba?”
Kiba smiled politely, “On the contrary. I've never really enjoyed watching movies but this is the most fun I've had in a while. Mostly thanks to the company.”
“It is very enjoyable company.” Akeno said with a sly smile. I stiffened as something pressed against my back, before relaxing into it as Akeno slipped an arm around my waist discreetly. The small amount of space between us disappeared altogether as she pulled me against her, pressing her soft body against my own. As my cheeks reddened, she looked around, smiling at the rest of our friends, “It isn't very often we have the chance to get together like this.”
“There wasn't really ever a need to unless we were having a meeting.” Rias nodded as she dabbed her lips free of pizza grease, “That being said, I wouldn't mind doing this again. Maybe we could make this a regular thing.”
“I'd be fine with that.” I said, earning a chorus of agreement from the rest of the peerage, “There’s a lot of movies I want to show you. There’s no way we’re getting through them all tonight, but we should be able to get through a few.”
“How many are there?”
I thought for a moment, ignoring Akeno’s hand resting on my thigh, “Twenty… one, I think? There’s side content but I think those are the main ones. It’ll take a while to get through them all. This one isn’t technically first in the continuity, but it’s a solid start and you don’t miss much.”
Rias's eyes widened at the number I quoted her, “Twenty one? That's a lot.”
“Most of them are really good. There's a few stinkers, but overall the quality is the same.” I grinned as on screen, Tony shut down his weapons division to the outcry of reporters, “This is one of the better ones.”
We settled in to watch the movie, the beginning of Tony's journey through one of the greatest on-screen universes ever conceived. After so many days spent breaking ourselves against the wheel of progress and improvement, it was nice to be able to relax in each other's company and enjoy ourselves fully. I snuggled into Akeno, content to enjoy a night of relaxation after so many harsh days without.