A New Motivation: Chapter 20

“Alright,” I backed away from Kiba, watching him intently, “do it again.”

The Knight gave me a tired look, “We’ve done this almost twenty times. I doubt anything will change if I try it again.”

“Probably not.” I agreed with a nod, “But try it again anyway and then we can move on. I just want to see if there's something we're missing.”

Kiba sighed but nodded, holding his hands out in front of him as his face shifted into a mask of intense concentration. His magic flared and he grit his teeth before pulling his hands apart, positioning them as if he was grasping something, “Sword… Birth!”

A long hilt formed between his palms followed by a pommel and cross-guard, and then a blade. But the blade didn't coalesce into a solid shape, changing shape and wavering, as if it wasn't sure what it wanted to be. Kiba grit his teeth, sweat beading on his brow as he tried to get a handle on his Sacred Gear, before something suddenly seemed to give and the sword suddenly snapped into place. It was beautiful, a delicate piece of silver and ivory, but I had a feeling it was ultimately not what I was looking for.

That theory was proven correct as Kiba gave the weapon an experimental swing, sending a burst of frigid wind sailing across the grass. Curling fingers of frost spread where it landed, twinkling in the mid-day sun. It was pretty, but I only felt disappointed as Kiba turned and shook his head, “Didn't work, huh?”

Kiba stared at his blade, pursing his lips, “No, it did not.”

“What were you going for this time?”

“Something similar to this, but not quite.” He said, "I was trying to create a sword that let me blow a freezing wind and conjure fire in a specific location. It seems I could only manage the former.”

I clicked my tongue, disappointed in the failure. It was only the most recent in a long line, but that didn't make it any less irritating.

I wasn't irritated with Kiba, of course, only the part of his soul responsible for creating his swords. Azazel’s test had left us with a good amount of free time. We'd usually use it to train with Souji but I couldn't find him for some reason, so we instead decided to dedicate the remainder of the day to this. We were testing the limits of his Sword Birth, seeing what he could and couldn't accomplish with such a powerful sacred gear at his disposal. 

Kiba himself had professed that he hadn't truly strained his own ability that much, sticking to simple creations like fire and ice and things like that, but the Resolve Breakers had sparked his creative interest which led us here. 

Currently, we were trying to see if he could impart two separate attributes to a single sword, sort of like he did in canon except without the whole character arc and mind shattering revelations that came with it. Our results had been insignificant so far. It seemed that despite everything Kiba would be able to do in the future, a simple thing like creating a fire and ice sword was out of his reach for now.

Kiba’s failed sword fell out of his hands, disappearing before it hit the ground as the Knight reached to his hip and grabbed the small blade hanging there. The Resolve Breaker glowed brightly as he took back his stolen energy, and the set of his shoulders relaxed greatly as his flagging stamina was restored.

“Even if this experiment was a failure, I've still learned more about my Sacred Gear than I probably would have on my own.” He said as he placed the weapon back on his hip.

I nodded absently, biting my thumb as I tried to think of a way around this annoying roadblock. Sword Birth was an extremely versatile Sacred Gear, able to create a demonic sword to suite practically any purpose. It didn't make sense to me that Kiba couldn't create swords that could do more than one thing.

Was it a built in restriction? Or maybe it was the user? It was possible that the task of concentrating on shaping the abilities of two separate swords into one was too difficult for Kiba at the moment. It could also be a built in restriction but considering the truth of Sacred Gears and what Kiba would eventually do, I doubted that would stop us at this point.

I wracked my brain, trying to think of a solution, before a devilish idea came to me. “Kiba? Let's try it one more time, but this time, I'm gonna help.”

“Help?”

“Just,” I gestured vaguely as I walked up beside him, “do your thing. Ignore me and try to combine swords again.”

Kiba seemed intrigued by my behavior but didn't pry, holding his hands out once more as he began to do what I asked. A glowing sword formed in his hands, stable at first before it started wavering just like before. It seemed like he was going to lose it any second, only this time, I reached up and added one of my own hands to the mix, grabbing onto the shifting blade with my Devil Bringer.

Synthesis grabbed onto the two conflicting existences and brought them together, fusing them seamlessly where Kiba's Sacred Gear would not. There was some resistance, as if Sword Birth had a mind of its own, one that wasn't really happy with being forced to do what it wasn't supposed to, but it bowed all the same.

I pulled my hand away and Kiba clutched his new weapon, eying his new weapon with interest. It looked innocuous, a simple straight sword with a blue hilt, but he did something I wasn't privy to and suddenly the entire weapon burst into crackling flames. Studying the flames, he pointed it like a wand, pointing it at a small patch of grass a few feet away. 

The crackling fire encasing Kiba's sword was suddenly swept away by a powerful burst of wind. It kicked up dust and fed even more oxygen into the fire, creating a towering pillar of flames that blazed their way across the ground, burning up everything in its path until Kiba stopped feeding it magic. We stared at the scorched trail of blackened, curled grass it had left, before sharing a simultaneous grin.

“I’d say that was a success, wouldn't you?” 

~~~

Of course, this new interaction between our abilities warranted experimentation. We spent the next several hours just trying different combinations between his swords, testing what would and wouldn't work and how effective they might be in a real battle. 

While Synthesis worked to combine his swords, not all the effects that were produced were actually useful, or at least they didn't all compound like the fire/wind sword from before. Some just let him do two different things at once, while others actively worked against themselves and rendered the whole combination fairly useless. Either way, it was fun to see what would happen when, and I could tell Kiba was just as excited as I was to test out this new aspect of his power.

Our experimentation ended when we ran out of Resolve Breakers to top off Kiba's energy. Constantly using his Sacred Gear was tiring, and even though our stamina and magical reserves had improved a lot since our training began, there was still a limit to how far we couldn't stretch it. By the end of it, we had probably spent as much energy just fooling around as we had training with Souji.

We decided call it a day, moving to check in on the rest of the peerage and see how their training was going. The sun was just beginning to sink in the sky as we soared through it, heading in the direction of flaring demonic power that we could feel a good distance away. As we went, I decided to bring it a certain someone who had been on my mind since that morning.

“Hey Kiba,” My shout barely carried over the wind but he looked in my direction anyway, curiosity painting his face, “have you noticed anything weird with how Akeno has been acting?”

“It would be hard not to.” He responded, “She hasn’t really been herself since Azazel appeared but that isn’t all too surprising, all things considered.”

“No it isn’t.” I shook my head, “But it’s still a problem. The way she’s acting… I’m worried if we don’t do something about it, something bigger is going to come of it, you know what I mean?”

By Kiba’s expression, he’d been thinking the same thing. He seemed conflicted about our friend and what she was going through, just as I did. “Yes, I do.” He said, face contemplative. “It’s been less than a full day, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen Akeno like this before. I can only imagine how her feelings are going to escalate the longer he stays.”

The longer Akeno had to stomach Azazel’s presence, the worse her mood was going to get. And considering the fact that he probably wasn’t going to leave until we did… It didn’t bode well.

“Are you going to talk to her about it?” Asked Kiba, already clue-in to what I was thinking. He clearly already knew the answer, he was expecting it, even.

“That’s the plan.” I nodded, “The only problem is, I’m not really sure how to go about approaching her about it. I can’t exactly walk up and ask her to get over her trauma just like that. I don’t really feel like eating a lightning bolt to the face any time soon.”

My joke fell flat as Kiba stared at me, eyes searching. Finally, he said, “There’s more to it than that, isn’t there?”

I sighed as he saw right through me, “I guess I just feel like I haven’t really earned the right, you know?”

He tilted his head, “No, I’m not sure I do. Would you mind explaining it to me? Because even I know that despite just joining the peerage, you and Akeno are arguably closer than any two of us, besides her and Rias, of course.”

I bit my lip, unsure how to go about putting this into words, “It’s a bit hard to explain but… Well, I guess the crux of it is where I come from. I’ve got outsider knowledge on all of you, even her. I’ve been looking into her life as a spectator but I’ve never really experienced the actual story, and Akeno didn’t tell me about it on her own. Is it really okay to try and talk to her about it when I shouldn’t even know about it in the first place?”

It was something that had been lingering in the back of my mind for a while now, but I never actually had the opportunity, nor the desire, to give the thoughts actual shape. Not until Azazel showed up, at least, and I realized I couldn’t put this off any longer.

The biggest issue that I was facing, and the biggest roadblock to helping my friend, is that I wasn’t from the world and, putting it simply, I wasn’t Issei. Akeno and I were good friends, but our conversations thus far had been playful teasing and ribbing undercut by an almost embarrassing amount of sexual tension. We didn’t have some sort of heartfelt conversation where she revealed her Fallen heritage and the story behind it all. I just knew it from the jump because I’d seen it happen.

I explained all of this to Kiba, alongside my fears that I might be overstepping my boundaries, and the Knight seemed contemplative, staring ahead in silence as he chewed on my words.

“See what I mean?” I asked, and he nodded slowly.

“I think I do. You’re scared that if you act on knowledge you shouldn’t truly have, you’ll be betraying Akeno’s trust in some way.” I nodded and he smiled, “Well then, I think everything should be just fine.”

I blinked, surprised by his words as he turned to face me again, “Nero, your, as you put it, ‘outsider knowledge’ doesn’t really matter. After all, Akeno already knows about your insight into all of us, but you two have still grown so close all on your own. You’re coming into this from the place of a concerned friend, not some random person trying to use her trauma to manipulate her. Akeno may have issues with you bringing it up, but she would feel the same if I or even Rias tried to talk to her about it. The subject is touchy, and she’s bound to want to keep it bottled up.

Besides,” his face became somber, “to tell you the truth, I’m pretty sure that you’re the only one who could help her at the moment.”

It was at that moment that I remembered Kiba was shouldering his own fair share of problems that still hadn’t been addressed. The Knight knew what Akeno was feeling right know, the hate that she was carrying on her shoulders and the self-loathing that came hand in hand with it. I bit my lip, wondering if I should bring it up, before ultimately deciding against it. One thing at a time right now.

“Maybe you’re right.” I spoke, “I just… I care about Akeno. I don’t want to hurt her. If I’m going to do this, I want to be careful about it.”

“That concern is more than enough to tell me that you’ll be just fine.” Kiba smiled, “She’s lucky to have a friend like you worrying about her.”

“Thanks.” I said, smiling slightly, “Now all that’s left is to find a way to get her alone so we can talk about it.”

“That’s going to be the real challenge.” He laughed, and the mood settled to something more comfortable as we moved on from the topic for the time being.

We quickly approached the patch of land where demonic energy was soaring into the air like a road flare and slowed down. Landing, we walked the remaining distance on foot, pushing through a small thicket as magic brushed against our skin, coming upon a strange sight.

Rias was standing in front of a small, rocky cliff with her back to the proverbial wall as she looked around in all directions. Her clothing was torn and her skin was covered in small bruises, but her breathing was as even as she scanned the area around her with constant vigilance. Her magic was pouring out of her body in a flickering crimson aura that almost made it seem as if she was on fire, but it was calm, controlled. The results of her training were clearly manifesting themselves.

And she wasn't the only one. Kiba and I watched as a form flickered from the treeline, heading straight towards Rias. The redhead immediately locked onto the approaching object and focused on it as it resolved itself into Koneko.

The girl's twin tails fluttered behind her as she reared a fist back and slung it towards their King with a shout, but Rias blocked it with a barrier made of demonic energy. Dust billowed but the shield didn’t waver as Rias raised her other hand from beside the barrier. Koneko planted her feet and leapt backwards just in time to escape a blast of deep crimson energy that singed the top of her head. 

She darted back towards the woods but Rias wasn’t willing to let her escape so easily. The shield disappeared as the heiress waved her hands, and three roiling crimson spheres appeared around her. Her aura seemed to dim slightly with their appearance, and dimmed even further as she slung a hand forward and released them, sending the blazing comets towards the fleeing Nekoshou.

‘She’s using the aura as ammunition!’ I realized as Koneko looked back to see the spheres approaching. She planted her feet and jumped, twisting in midair as she dodged the first two, only getting grazed by the third. The energy completely disintegrated her sleeve as it landed, confirming my suspicions that it was indeed Power of Destruction, but it only singed Koneko’s skin instead of turning her to ash on the spot. Either Koneko was much more durable than I imagined, or more likely, Rias’s control had vastly improved during her own training.

As Koneko disappeared back into the thicket, Rias’s aura flickered and slowly returned to its normal intensity as she returned to playing the waiting game. She didn’t seem put off by the exchange, nor did her stamina seem to be impacted from the effort required to keep up with Koneko which was… frankly amazing. I’d been on the receiving end of those fists a few times since we started training and blocking them hurt almost as much as getting hit.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” A hand was placed on my shoulder, making me jump as Kiba did the same beside me. Azazel’s grinning face came into view as I whipped my head around, and he nodded towards the show in front of us. “I never expected Sirzechs’ little sister to get so strong. Grayfia really did a good job with her.”

I turned back to the fight just in time to watch Koneko return. Rias sent more orbs at her but they were swiftly dodged as Koneko closed the distance. Unlike before, Rias didn’t try to block her with a barrier, instead actually going so far as to briefly engage the Nekoshou in hand-to-hand so that she could gain some distance to use her magic. 

I hadn’t had the opportunity to witness the results of Rias’s training before now; the two of us weren’t often paired together and when we were, it was usually some form of control training. Seeing her now, it was clear that out of everyone in the peerage, she had improved the most. She had been working hard, and it seemed she was finally starting to access her true potential.

As the redhead dodged a fist from Koneko and slung the girl away with a well-placed spell, Azazel hummed to himself, “This was supposed to be a test of Rias’s skills but this isn’t really going how I imagined it. Koneko has gotten a few good hits in, but it looks like she can’t really keep up with Rias when she really gets going. I can’t get a good gauge of her powers if she’s not being pushed.”

His eyes slid over to us and his face seemed to brighten as a thought struck him, “Hey, here’s an idea! How about you two join them? Make it a fun little free for all?”

I shared an unsure look with Kiba but Azazel wasn’t having it. He nodded, set on his idea, “Yeah, that’s a good idea. You two go in there and mix things up a bit. It’ll be a good chance to see how far you two have come as well.”

Kiba and I shared another look, before I shrugged, “A spar with all of us sounds kind of fun, I guess. We haven’t really been fighting each other that much on this trip so I kinda want to see how I stack up to the rest of you."

“I’ll admit, I’m curious as well.” Kiba relented, looking almost excited by the prospect, “I just hope you don’t expect me to hold anything back when we cross blades.”

I just grinned at him, “I’d be insulted if you did.”

“That's the spirit!” Azazel slapped us on the backs, “Too bad we're missing one, but most of the team will have to do. Get out there and show off the results of your training. Make sure to make it entertaining.”

He let us go and I summoned Yamato, resting the blade on my shoulder as I gestured for Kiba to move ahead of me, “After you, sir.” 

He bowed graciously and together, we walked into the clearing just as Koneko made her reappearance with a heel drop aimed at Rias's head. The girl jumped backwards and almost ran straight into us, whirling around defensively, before blinking as she recognized who was behind us, “What are you two doing here?

“Azazel thought it'd be a good idea if we joined in and sparred with you guys.” I explained as Koneko walked up, “Apparently he wasn't getting a good enough read on your power with just you and Koneko. No offence.” I added on after realizing how that probably sounded.

Koneko just shrugged, “He was right. I'm barely getting anywhere. You're strong, buchou.”

Rias seemed embarrassed by the compliment, “I've just been taking my training seriously, the same as all of you.”

“Well I personally  can't wait to see first hand how powerful you are now.” I said somewhat eagerly,  You were giving Koneko a run for her money, now I want a turn.”

“As do I.” Kiba agreed, creating a pair of swords which he brandished with enthusiasm, “Please do us the courtesy of letting us join this match. I'd like to see how I measure up.”

As Koneko clenched her fists and got into a ready stance as well, Rias looked around at us all and a smile formed on her face as she giggled “Well if you're that eager, then I suppose I'll have to oblige you all, won't I?”

A wave of demonic magic washed over the clearing, thick and potent and stronger than anything I had felt from her before. Rias's clothing and hair fluttered on an unseen wind as a crimson aura, ten times as intense as the one she had been using to fight Koneko, flooding from her pores and wrapped around her like a blanket.

“Prepare yourselves, my cute little servants.” Rias spoke in a cheeky tone. Her eyes seemed to glow in the depths of her power, “You aren't the only ones who want to see how far they've come.”

My Devil Bringer burned to life behind me as my fist clenched around my sword. The power was sweltering, almost suffocating as it washed over us again and again, and I couldn't help but grin as I realized just how much more powerful my King had gotten. This was going to be fun.