Chapter 3

Rose POV

Power

Pure unrelenting power was all that I felt in that moment.

When I told Ryuuta that it was going to hurt, I did not mean to that extent. It was supposed to be quick and only semi painful like a really bad bee sting.

What I did not expect was for him to have so much Mana. For a second it felt like I was going to drown in it. When he told me that the spirit of Gilgamesh said that he had Mana in spades, I was expecting more than normal for his age group among his own race. However, Ryuuta has more in him then an average High-Class Devil when they are children and unlock their own Mana for the first time. Which forced me in turn to push more of my own into his body.

When I felt him 'reach' out and 'hold' his Mana, I immediately stopped pushing my own as it broke my heart to listen to his pain filled screams. However, I had to steel my heart because I knew that in the long run that this would be good for him. There are a few techniques that I need to pass onto him so that he may better protect himself and nearly all of those techniques require the use of Mana.

I pulled my hand away from his tiny abdomen and watched as his face displayed full concentration. I took two steps back, but I stayed crouched so I could catch him once he let his Mana flow. I too had lost conscious when my grandmother had first unlocked my Mana.

I was completely and utterly unprepared for what followed.

As I watched, I noticed that he was starting glow a little, almost a blueish white hue. I was about to congratulate him when all of a sudden, I was blown backwards. It didn't blow me back too far, I only landed two meters away from Ryuuta and I was worried something had gone wrong, so when I get up and look at him, I was shocked.

Gone was small blueish white hue, what replaced it was a powerful coat of pure blue Mana. Littered throughout his body, I could see bits of his Magic Circuits peeking out. But what truly showed how powerful his Mana were the spider web cracks that filled the ground with him being the epicenter. I also noticed that his flare had formed cracks in my Bounded-Field. I had not created a powerful one because I did not expect for Ryuuta to hold this much power, but it is still very impressive. Looks like I will have to start casting stronger ones starting tomorrow. Now that I think about it, Ayame mentioned that she had a large Mana Pool.

So, this is the power of someone who is descended of two Heroes. The power of someone chosen by the King of Heroes himself. However, I also knew that he won't be able to control his Mana completely until much later in life, probably around the age of 15 or 16; and that is only if he continuously practices his Mana control nearly everyday.

What made it even more awe inspiring is that his compulsion will push him even further.

I knew exactly what the compulsion was. My brother Alex and I had both felt that compulsion when we were younger. It was like a little voice in the back of our heads that felt like an instinct to get stronger and smarter as fast as we could. The compulsion was a lot stronger in Alex than it was in me, but he was eventually able to get it under control by the time he was ten. However, Ryuuta's compulsion looked like it was a lot stronger than Alex's, considering the number of books he has read and how much he trains. It might even be worse now that I have given him a means of becoming stronger. Not only that, Ayame told me that she had also experienced something similar when she was young as well, but it sounded as if it was harder to suppress for her than it was for Alex and me. That means that Ryuuta has to feel the compulsion to reach a 'Heroic State' faster from two sides of his family.

(AN: This is not legit at all, I just needed a reason to explain why Rose is not so surprised by Ryuuta's maturity level and dedication to train. This compulsion does fit in with the DxDverse if you were to think about it as Cao Cao, a human, was able to compete with Sairaorg, an Ultimate-Class Devil. This is also my attempt at mixing in the Spirit Possession shown in Fate.)

I was broken out of my thoughts when I felt his aura die down and I saw him open his eyes. For a second, he seemed worried about something.

"Oh, right. When his eyes were last open, I was in front of him and now I am all the way back over here."

However, it didn't last long as the second he opened his mouth, he started to pass out.

Awww, that's so cute. My Little Dragon is worried about me. It made me chuckle a little.

I stood up and walked toward him and picked him up. I placed in my left arm while I pointed my right arm at the spider web cracks.

"O' Earth, may you come forth and restore thyself."

I watched as the ground beneath me moved around to fix the cracks that Ryuuta made. It isn't that hard of a spell to cast since it is just a minor Elemental Manipulation spell.

I felt Ryuuta dig his face closer in my shoulder as I started to dispel the Bounded-Field.

"Awww, that's so cute! He likes to snuggle."

I walk back to the orphanage with a minor illusion around me as to not attract attention. When I arrive, I dispel the Bounded-Field around the orphanage I placed before we left.

I deposit Ryuuta in his bed before I head to take a quick shower. Afterwards I head to bed and drift off into slumber while thinking about what I will do with Ryuuta tomorrow with his training.

XXX

Ryuuta POV (Next Morning)

I wake up feeling a little bit groggy, but other than that, I don't think I have ever had such a good sleep in either of my lives. Although my body does feel extremely sore to the point that I might just stay in bed till tonight.

I stay in place for about another ten minutes before deciding against it. I want to try out how to use my newfound powers, but I have no idea how to do so other than to flare my Mana. Might as well wait for my next training session.

After I finish brushing I head to the dining room for breakfast. On the way I realize that I feel very energized, as if I would be able to go through last night again. Not that I want to though.

"I wonder what I looked like when I flare my Mana."

After I finish eating, I go to the daily chores list to see what I have to do today. Rose believes that everyone should pull their own weight at least by a little, but it's not like I have a lot to do since I am one of the younger ones here. The older ones have more on their list.

"Hmm, that's strange. All of my chores are indoor when I usually have most of them outside. Rose must have moved me around for what ever reason."

I turn to look at the sink and see the dishes piled up.

Sigh

"I hate chores. Stupid child body."

XXX

It was around the early afternoon when I had finished and decided to look for Rose. I found her making snacks for us in the kitchen.

"Good afternoon Rose."

"Good afternoon Ryuuta."

"Is the reason I am indoors today because of what happened last night?" I ask.

"Yes, for you see Ryuu, you have far more power than I expected for you to. To make sure we don't attract attention, I set up a Bounded-Field around the property to conceal your presence. I will take it down and let you go out again once you can at the least suppress your Mana to lower level, because right now you are like a beacon. I could feel you moving around since this morning."

That makes sense.

"Are we going to continue tonight?"

"No, I am going to let your Mana settle in your body a little more. Tonight we will be practicing swordsmanship. I have some extra wooden practice swords in the attic, so you don't have to use that broken broom anymore."

"Finally!"

"I am going to go take a nap, so I can have enough energy for tonight."

"Okay, but be down in time for dinner.

XXX

We waited until everyone was asleep again before we head to the same open lot as last night.

Rose had brought two western style wooden swords, meaning it is sharp side is on both sides of the blade unlike the eastern swords like a katana. One of the swords is shorter than the other resembling a long dagger instead.

"Now then, these swords are regular wooden swords; however, I do have wooden swords filled with lead in the attic, but you won't be using those until you get used to these, and by that I mean until your body grows as well. I intend on passing down Clarent to you once you are ready, so you need to build yourself up for it. Clarent is a large sword that is over five feet in length, so it is considered to be a great sword. Although, Mordred was said to be able to use the sword with one arm like a normal short sword."

(AN: Mordred is five feet tall and Clarent comes about up to her lips, almost her nose, when she sticks it into the ground if you were to eyeball it.)

"Wasn't Vasco Strada said to be able to use Durandal with one arm. I have got to look for methods to do the same, but hopefully without the same body type; after all, if I am remembering correctly, he was said to be so muscular that Issei's body was the same size as just one of his legs, and that Durandal actually looked small in his hands. What a scary old man."

"To begin, I first want to see how good you naturally are with an actually good practice sword instead of just random sticks you tend to find."

I blush a little at that comment before quickly calming myself down. Now that I think about it, I do have a habit of hording random sticks.

I grab the practice sword and do a few quick swings with one hand.

"This is lighter than I thought it would be."

"Oh, don't worry. Today I don't expect you to have much of a problem with stamina since you have been swinging a 'sword' for a while. So, I intend on driving you into the ground to work on your form tonight, but not before seeing how good you are on your own. You're going to hate it by the time I am done with you," she says with a sadistic smirk.

Oh dear, this is going to painful, isn't it?

I step back a few meters, before settling into a stance, as best as I could anyway.

I see Rose just simply raise her practice sword with out getting into a stance. She obviously isn't going to take me seriously.

"She is underestimating me, but that is to be expected considering this literally my first spar. It is still something I don't like though."

I cautiously move forward for a few steps before I charge at her. I bring my arms up to perform a downward swing, but I see something from the corner of my eye, so I pull back my arm instead of finishing the swing.

CLACK

I feel her sword colliding with mine, but even if I blocked it, I was still pushed to the side a few meters.

I can feel my arms sting a little. I shake it off and quickly turn to face her again.

"Looks like she might not move unless I make her."

I charge forward again, but this time I do a horizontal slash at her legs. I suddenly see a blur in the corner of my eyes coming towards my temple. I quickly lean back in response.

WHOOSH

She tried to strike the side of my head, but missed. I had just barely dodged it. My flexibility from all those stretches kicked in.

"Alright, now I-"

I felt a pain in my stomach before I was sent flying backwards. I landed on my back, hard. I groan a little before getting up again.

"Is that all Ryuuta?"

I don't answer and simply charge forward again. Once I got close, I see another blur coming at my left side at a fast pace. I allow my self to fall to my right and while holding my sword in my left hand, I use my right hand to hold me up.

I look up to see Rose finishing a roundhouse kick. I push myself back to gain distance.

It looks like it was a good idea improving my eyesight using the spinning chair method or else I would not have seen that kick coming. Even if it did take me a long time to stop throwing up and read the words Asia would write.

It didn't work though, as I can feel her other foot into my right side pushing me upward a little. I see her thrust and I move my own sword to block with the flat end, but she makes a correction and moves it to strike my chest instead of my stomach.

I go flying back again, this time with a little more force than before. I take a little longer in getting back up as it feels like I have no air in my lungs. When I stand up, I think for a little before deciding on what I should do.

This time instead of charging directly like an idiot, I move in a zig-zag like path. When I approach her again I slow down and when I arrive within striking range, I pick up my speed again and dash to her right before thrusting at her gut.

She reacts quickly by dodging to the thrust by doing a quick spin. She added on to the dodge by doing a horizontal slash at my right side.

CLACK

I react by bringing the pummel of my sword against hers, sending her sword upwards a little. I take this chance and take a quick step in and do a one handed, for more speed, horizontal slash at her stomach.

CLACK

I feel pain on the top of my head and my attack falls apart. I don't have anytime to think about it as I feel more pain in my gut again because Rose had kicked me again.

Before I land, this time I use my hand to keep myself up by doing a semi-flip.

"Ugh, this hurts so damn much. Does she have to keep targeting my stomach though?"

I get up again and get ready to attack again.

"I am so going to feel this in the morning.

XXX

Rose POV

I kicked Ryuuta back and sent him flying like before, but this time he managed to use his hand to save himself a harsh landing.

Every time I sent him back, I used more force than the last to see how he would react. From what I have noticed, his body is a little stronger than a normal human's. Not to the point of a Devil's body, but it does make me curious to know if he can reach such a point.

He charges at me again while changing his speed at every few steps. If I was the same age as him, he probably would win. The boy can think on his feet.

This time he jumps at me to try to make a downward vertical slash. I step back and let the slash come down. I bring my sword up right past his to make an upward vertical slash, however he flicks his wrist and his sword pushes mine away.

I let it continue on its path and simply do a spin in the same direction that he pushed my sword in. This time I nail him on his shoulder, sending him off to the side.

I as I am fighting him, I noticed how he is trying to best me.

Instinct.

He is fighting primarily by acting and reacting rather than thinking through every step. While it is very dull, it is still good for someone his age with it being slightly better than my brother's instincts when he was younger. He does at least think about his actions every time he gains some distance between the two of us.

I also noticed that is form is very sloppy, I am going to have to work on that a lot with him. I don't think he will fit into my style though.

I tend to fight with smooth, fluid motions that is based on moving around an attack sent by my opponent in battle. It is a useful style, but it doesn't exactly seem to fit Ryuuta. His style that he will eventually come to develop will most likely be based on speed, technique, and instinct; in other words, an offensive type compared to my counter-attacking style.

From what I have seen so far he likes to move around fast and attack just as fast. He tried to force me to move me a certain way by attacking certain parts of my body like my legs. Most importantly, his sense of danger and reaction timing is remarkable. He also has high flexibility that allowed him to do some those maneuvers that would otherwise injure him. While he may be unable to block them, I can see him following my attacks. Such good eyesight.

He will be a marvelous swordsman one day.

"But right now, he's unrefined, inexperienced, and uninformed. He will get better, but that is years ahead in time."

I am broken out of my musing when I see him getting up again. He doesn't charge at me this time. He is trying his best to keep up a guard, but it just has too many holes. I let it go for now as that isn't the point of this fight. The point of this is to see how he will naturally react. Had I taught him forms first then he would be stiffer in trying to work with the form that might not even suit him.

With his guard up, he slowly moves closer to me step by step. Good, he has realized to be a bit more cautious when faced against a stronger opponent. When he enters striking distance, he thrusts at my right thigh. I swing to his head, but I stop when I realize that he has already retreated after stopping mid-thrust.

He comes forward slowly again. This time he slashes at my left knee. When I go to strike him, he has already stopped mid-swing, and retreated again. He continues these half attacks and retreats for a while.

"Is he attempting to do hit and run techniques? He has the right idea, but he is not at the level where he can execute something like that. All of those swings that he has practiced has only taught him correct gripping of the sword, how to do a clear swing, and some flexibility in his wrist. After I get one more hit, I will stop him and move onto forms for him."

This time when he comes within striking range he once again, he sends a horizontal slash at my chest. When he pulls back, I step forward while pulling my arm back. I send my arm forward in a thrust to his solar plexus, draining him of air.

"Hmm, he should have been able to block that one. Oh, I see..."

It sends him back and he starts wheezing on the ground. I didn't use too much power so he should be fine.

"Okay, that's enough for now. You didn't do too bad for you first time, but you leave much to be desired." I say while walking towards him. He seems to have caught his breath.

"Let's first go over what you did good in. You definitely have good instincts; as a matter of fact, they were part of your driving force in this brief battle. Next you are really flexible, so you have a larger range of motions you can perform. Then there is your speed, while it is not very fast to me, it is still good for your age group. You also had some decent tries at using technique, like when you flicked your wrist to push my sword away. Finally, you showed an aptitude for quick thinking while in a fight, despite this being the easiest fight you will ever have." I say as I raise a finger for each point.

"Now let's talk about what can be worked upon. Your form is very sloppy, it had so many holes that I could have exploited, then again it is your first spar. You did not attack in places that could have done maximum damage, but you did attack general areas you're not too bad in that area. You are also inexperienced, but that is something that will come to you overtime the more you battle." I finish.

"I am guessing that eventually when you find a way of swordsmanship, you will most likely base it around speed, in both movement and attack; technique, in both attacking and strategy; and instinct, both when you act and react, as well as your irregular movements. If you are able to, you should build yourself around these. While you will have a little less strength to start out with compared to someone who has centered their build around power, your natural strength will compensate allowing you to be able to go toe to toe with them; after all, I notice that your body is a little stronger than most humans who are involved with the supernatural," I mention that last part as an afterthought.

"Now that I have said all that I wished to say, we will now work on your form. Pick up your sword and settle into a basic stance. We will be doing this the rest of the night," I can feel a smile making its way up when I saw the look on his face.

"Is this how you felt Grandmother, when you were putting Alex and I through that torture called training?"

It felt good to put someone else though all of this.

I am going to enjoy this.

XXX

Ryuuta POV

I am not going to enjoy this.

That smile on Rose's face is purely sadistic. Perhaps I am little over my head here.

I got up and raised my sword and crouched down a little.

"You are pretty good with both hands, which leads me to believe that you might be naturally ambidextrous. However, we will first work on each hand, so we will start with your right hand."

Well she is not wrong that I am ambidextrous, but not naturally. I had to work on my left hand a lot since I am naturally right handed. I still am not as good with my left as I am with my right, but it is a work in progress.

"Stick your left foot forward more. When you charged forward before, you started with your right foot despite doing a right hand strike. By starting with your left foot, you can put your whole body into a strike, making it stronger. Lower your body just by a little, it is good to have a low center of gravity. Lower you arms just a little, and loosen up. There is no point in being that tense, you will only hurt yourself. Hold this position until I say stop," it was a command, not a request, and both of us knew it.

There is no clock, so I can't see what time it is, but I can tell that I have been in this position for a while now. My body is starting to feel like it is on fire. Every time I dropped my stance, Rose would hit me in the head with her wooden sword.

"Like I said before, you have a lot of stamina," well duh. "Despite that, holding on for an hour and half is pretty good."

"'Not as good as my brother with a sword' my ass. You, my aunt, are a slave driver. Fuck, if you don't consider yourself as good as him, how good was my dad with a sword? And according to Rose, she's only High-Class."

"Try and hold it for another half an hour."

Half an hour later, she finally let me take a break. Though, the break was only five minutes.

"Now we will work on your form when you swing your sword downward. Get in the same stance as before. Lower yourself again, your are standing too high again. The problem with your swing is that you keep your wrist stiff. While you can do a clear swing, you have a lower maneuverability in your swing. For example, you were capable of blocking that last strike," makes sense I suppose. At least I can do a decent swing.

I bring my arm up and swing down.

"Keep your back firm when you swing, or else you will have back problems when you are old. You are not keeping your form when you swing and the holes in your defense open up again. Also keep yourself compact, no need to over extend, settle for maximum speed and control by keeping your body closed. Continue until I say stop."

I continue my swings until Rose tells me that I am done for the day and makes me do some stretches to cool down.

Afterwards I lay down and stare at the sky.

"The stars, how pretty. It is still the 1990s in this world. As my previous world advanced, it also became more polluted especially after 2027. Here technology has not advanced as much and if the gods are around, that means a few gods of nature are most likely regulating things. Regardless, the sky here looks absolutely stunning…"

(AN: The anime of Highschool DxD was first aired in 2012, so that will be the starting point in this world. Meaning that it is Ryuuta was born on December 7, 1995. It also means that he is in the same high school year as Issei but is eight months younger as Issei's birthday is April 16.)

XXX

Rose POV

I finish my stretches and look over to see that Ryuuta has finished his own and is now lying down on the grass.

"Get up and let's head back inside for the night Ryuuta."

I notice that he does not move nor respond.

"Ryuuta?" I call out to him again.

I walk over too him and see that he has fallen asleep. Seems that despite all of his energy, he can still get very tired in the end. I chuckle lightly and pick him up like I did yesterday.

When I picked him I noticed something about him.

"While his Mana has settled down a little, it is still...rampaging, for a lack of better terms. When I put him in bed, I should probably put a minor seal on him to help him control his powers more."

I take him back to his room and place him face up on up on his bed. I go to the attic and push aside some boxes until I reach the very back.

There in the back lay two large metal boxes side by side. I go to the box on the left and press my hand against it. I let my Mana flow into the box and I see a triple layered magic circle appear on it. The first layer spins before splitting in half and fading away. The same happens to the other two layers. The box then opens from the middle and reveals what is inside.

Inside the is a large staff slightly taller than I am with silver plating on the top and the rest is made of a smooth piece of wood. The silver plating has five red gems adorning it in a circular shape.

This staff is nothing special, but I did store my Mana in the gems in case I wanted more precision or power. I do not wish to mess up Ryuuta's future by doing something that can not be fixed to him. By using the power stored in the gems, I have more wiggle room to cast the seal. His power is large, by the time he is a teenager, he will most likely contain more power than I. I need to make a seal to last.

I grab the staff and return to his room. I walk up to Ryuuta and remove his shirt. Raise my staff and place the bottom on top of the middle of his chest.

"O' matrix of suppression, may you come forth and protect thy bonded one from his untamed and unrelenting power."

The first seal has been placed. I intend to place two more that will assist him. I watched for any irregularities as I felt his Mana become more 'tame.'

"O' matrix of concealment, may you come forth and protect thy bonded one from unknown eyes."

The second seal has been placed.

"O' matrix of alteration, may you come forth and allow thy bonded one to activate and deactivate any seal placed upon him."

The third and final seal has been placed. Sealing was never my strength at all. If I was good, I could have put all of those conditions in one seal. Goes to show that there is always more that you can do.

I put Ryuuta's shirt back on and walk back to the attic to put back in its box to lock away. I then go back to my room to go to sleep.

"I feel as if I am forgetting something. Oh well, it will come back to me later."

XXX

Ryuuta POV

I am in a dark place. I can barely see my own hands in front of my face. I try to move around but it feels like I am floating in nothingness. It feels somewhat disturbing, that I can not move in the slightest.

I try to flare my Mana, but I am getting no form of response from my body nor from the void. Honestly, I was panicking a little.

"Not enough…" I barely heard it. I tried to spin my head around, but I wasn't having much success.

"Not yet…"

"Who is there?" I say as calmly as I could.

"Not ready…"

"Wha-"

XXX

I wake up with a start.

"A…a dream? What the hell was that?! What was that voice?"

For now, I push it to the back of my head, I can contemplate on it later. As far as I know, I did not feel as if that voice meant any harm.

I get up and go to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

"Why do I feel so constrained?" This just isn't my morning.

I realize about half way into the day that the problem was not my body, but rather my Mana. I tried to look for Rose, but when I found her, she was busy with some of the other kids. I try to watch her face when she noticed me for any form of panic or urgency. There wasn't any.

"Either I am really bad at judging faces or she is really good at hiding it or there is nothing to worry about."

XXX

When nightfall arrived, we went to our usual spot.

"So, you know what's up with me?"

"Yes. Last night when I was taking you back to your room, I noticed that your Mana was really out of control. By out of control, I mean that you could, in a way, explode. Imagine your body as a glass cup; your Mana is the water that goes into the cup, and it is overflowing. And because you don't have an open end like a cup. To counter act this, I placed a few restraints on you."

It's a good thing that I didn't flare my Mana like I wanted to.

"I placed a total of three restraints on you. The first one is to limit how much of your Mana can flow and be used at once. It will still grow the more you use it, but you should be fine by the time you are around the age of 15. With this seal it will be easier to use it in smaller doses like with precise spells, but it will be harder for you to use in larger doses until you fully unseal yourself. Your second restraint hides your presence a little. Not to the point a god won't sense you, but you should be safe from Low and Middle-Class beings, maybe even a few High-Class ones. Your third seal is the one that allows you to release your previous seals. I wouldn't really use this one unless you are going to try to intimidate someone. With the density of your Mana you could quite easily terrify beings who are weaker than you. Imagine what you could do if you mixed in some Killing Intent, how scary." She said that last part under her breath, but I was able to pick up on it a little.

For some reason, I like the image of me being terrifying to my opponents and making them cower in front of me.

"We will be working on your control as I do not believe that having such a handicap will be a good thing in the long run. Now that we have got that out of the way let's start with today's lesson."

She held up her hand. A magic circle activated above her hand and dropped a clear orb in her hand.

"Is that a storage space? So cool! I want one! Wait, I already have the Gates of Babylon."

I watch as she focuses on the orb and makes it light up. The light was not extremely bright, more like a light bulb. I watched on silently as Rose continued to maintain the brightness. She then proceeds to stop and come towards me.

"This is sphere is made up of a special crystal that is suited to harmonize with magic. It has been tampered with to glow when it is exposed to a certain amount of Mana. It also drains your Mana at a high rate, so if you put in too much or too little, it won't glow. After you find the correct amount, you then need to maintain that amount for it to continue to glow. You will continue to do this until you reach an acceptable level of control. This part of your training will require the greatest amount of patience from you, unless you want to live with your power sealed off for the rest of your life," she says.

"This is going to take a while for me to get down, longer than I would like, but there isn't much I can do about it."

"I will supervise you and make sure that you don't accidently hurt yourself while you do this by overloading your power. Other than that, you shouldn't really have any problems, so you can start whenever you want."

I hold the orb in both of my hands and close my eyes and try to pin point the same feeling that I had the night I unlocked my Mana. It is a lot easier to locate than the first time, but it still takes some digging around to find and pull it.

I try to pull as little as I can and direct it into the orb through my hands. The process of pushing Mana through my body felt similar to a massaging machine, when the rollers presses and rolls against my body. It felt mostly relaxing and empowering at the same time.

THWACK

I felt something hit me on the top of my head. I look up to see Rose holding a wooden spoon in her hand.

"You are pushing too much; your body isn't ready for that amount to flow through it yet. If we continue to develop your body, then you should be ready in a few years. Until then, you should not use it like that."

"I get that, but why a wooden spoon of all things?"

"Why not?"

"Touché."

I close my eyes and concentrate again. When I feel my Mana again, instead of just pulling it, I imagine a faucet slowly turning on the water and letting only a little bit flow through. When I push towards the orb again, this time I visualize a cup being filled to the top. I let the water fill the cup and try to stop filling it once it reached the top, but I instead 'see' the water overflow a little. I then release my Mana to stop and take a breather.

"Not bad, I saw it glow for a second. It was only for a second though," I hear Rose say once I open my eyes.

I can feel my body drenched in sweat and the orb seems to be slipping a little from my hands due to said sweat.

"What did you try to visualize when you lit up the orb?" she asks.

"A cup of water being filled," I say between breathes.

"Hmm, that's not bad. When I did it, I tried to imagine a balloon being filled with air."

"Why didn't you just tell me that the first time before you hit me on the head?"

"This is a learning experience. I can't stay by your side forever and hold your hand the entire way. I can advise and guide you, but that's about it. Every time you fail, in my opinion, is another time you learn and grow. This world is harsh and unforgiving. All it takes is making the wrong being upset and said being decides to wipe your existence away," she explains sternly.

"I see."

"Good," she hands me a towel, "dry your hands off and get started again. The night is still young, and we have a lot of time left." Ah, the sadistic smile has made a comeback.

I continue to do the same exercise over and over again. Each time I do it, I feel more and more tired, and all of it is mentally. According to Rose, due to me being new to this plus having a slightly larger Mana Pool, it puts on a higher mental strain. She also said that eventually that part will become easier, most likely in a few months, I just need to get used to the feeling. After that, increasing the amount I can let flow in body will only happen in about two years, because by then my body will have grown used to an energy constantly moving around in it.

My head also aches a little from Rose hitting me every now and then. She never hit me too hard, just enough for me to snap out of it; however, she always hit me in the same spot causing me to feel it even more every time I was hit.

When Rose calls for me to finish up, I can barely concentrate on her words, or on anything in general. When I try to stand up, I almost fell over, but Rose caught me before I hit the ground. I can feel her picking me up and carrying me back home.

"Home, huh."

In my previous world, home really didn't mean much to me. I didn't have anyone waiting for me nor did I have anything to look forward to. It never mattered to me where I was as long as I could sleep, eat, and go about my daily life without a problem.

However, here I have Rose. While I am a little sour that I missed out on having at least one parent for the second time in a row, I am glad that I am not alone. I do not know what exactly the opinion would be of me within the Main Branch of the Pendragons once they find about my existence so I can't quite refer to them as something I am happy about yet. But Rose has literally been by my side since I was born. When Gilgamesh told me that Rose and I are related, I almost cried. I had someone I could refer to as family. While I was never out going about my desires and wants, a family had been something that I had always wished for. After living one life alone, how would I not want someone I could call my own.

As Rose put me into bed, I drifted off into sleep.

"At least today I did not fall asleep before I entered my bed…"

XXX

Next Morning

When I wake up, I can feel a slight headache from the night before. I groggily walk to bathroom to brush my teeth.

Once I finish my chores for the day, I go to bed and try to get some more sleep. I slept until evening and woke up to eat dinner.

XXX

At one point I can hear some noises, but I am too tired and lazy to get out of bed. However, it could be an emergency, so I am about to get out of bed to check it out

"ENOUGH!" I hear Rose shout.

Someone must have been doing something that they weren't supposed to be doing or they were misbehaving. Either way, something had warranted Rose to shout. That also means that the situation is under control and there is no need for me to show up. I drink some water from the bottle beside my bed and roll over before diving back into my blissful sleep.

XXX

When I arrived at the dinner table that, I noticed that there were a few empty seats.

"Are some of them still doing chores?" I ask Claire, a ten-year-old.

Claire is one of the more down to Earth and nice ones. She kind of reminds me of a younger version of Rose.

"Robert got adopted while you were asleep," she answers.

"I didn't hear a party being celebrated, unless it was the noises that I heard earlier," usually Rose throws a small going away party every time someone gets adopted.

"No, the noises were not from a party. The couple that chose to take him in are from London, they were here on vacation. They saw Rob when he was in the park and he reminded the man of his deceased brother. I overheard him mention that his wife couldn't have a child as well, so when one of the neighbors mentioned that he was an orphan, they jumped at the chance. They needed to catch the train, so they had Rob tell everyone goodbye quickly."

"He never said goodbye to me."

"You and I both know that he still doesn't like you for getting his allowance taken away," she says with amusement.

"Hmm, I guess so. So, what about the others?" I didn't think on it too much. Robert was one of those who chose to follow Alex when he was trying to get money from Asia and I.

"Alex threw a fit and managed to get a few others involved in it, so they don't get dinner. Alex usually coerces others to his chores anyway, so its not like he's tired from working. That is why he is so fat too," she's not wrong, Alex did put on even more pounds. I can hear a few chuckles around me from the others at the dinner table who are listening in.

"He managed to rope in some more idiots? I thought they all would have learned better after everything he has done before," I was genuinely curious. Alex's bad behavior was so well known that even the neighbors knew about it.

"They are the new guys who came in last month. They weren't here for his previous actions."

"Five people came in at once?"

"Seven, actually. Parents had left them at the beach saying they would come back, they bailed instead. Miss Rose found them on one of her walks and asked someone she knew to track down the parents. The police found them trying to board a plane to Canada. Turns out they had some debt and were trying to escape from it. Court declared both of them to be unfit for parenting and sent them here."

"You sure know a lot Claire," she is pretty smart.

"It was in the news Dragon," most of the kids here have trouble pronouncing Japanese, so when they found out that part of my name means dragon, they all started to call me Dragon, except for Asia and Alex. Asia didn't because she was used to saying it and Alex didn't because he would purposefully butcher it even more to try to goad me.

"Anyway, five of the siblings, two girls and three boys, managed to get roped in. The oldest, a boy, seems to understand that Alex is trouble and stayed away while taking the youngest, a girl, with him."

"How did he find out about Alex?"

"I told him, actually I told all of them, only the oldest bothered to listen though," she sighs.

Claire most likely won't speak with those five unless necessary anymore. All of us here developed a quirk that makes us a little different from each other; after all, each one of us wants to stand out. I am recognized as a bit of an anti-social, then again, I am mentally older than the others here, so I can see why they would say that when I tend to stay away from most of the kids. Claire, on the other hand, refuses to associate with anyone that would waste her time. She is really harsh about it too, all it takes is one fuck up and you're on her bad list.

She is also one of the more informed ones too, as she regularly reads the newspaper. Rose uses the newspaper in order to teach us how to read, of course she looks for easier articles. Turns out, Claire really enjoyed it.

"What is Alex's punishment this time?" I ask.

"Miss Rose is sending him to the Academy when he turns ten," she says a little quietly.

If he didn't act the way he acts, I would have felt bad for him. Rose must be truly tired of dealing with him if she is sending Alex to that place.

The Cadet Academy.

It is an academy that has a military style of discipline and most of its graduates do enter the military. There are two main reasons that someone would want to go to that place. The first is because they wish to pursue a military career, these guys usually enter at the age of fifteen, so it counts as their high school. The other reason is because they need to be reigned in. These guys can only enter at the minimum age of ten. While Alex may have it easy for a while because he is young, later on he will be torn apart if he doesn't shape up.

I can see some of the others around us who were listening in visibly wince. The Academy isn't necessarily a bad thing, but for a child it does seem excessive. However, the results seem to show that it is a valid method.

"Do you know when he turns ten?" I ask.

"Next month. He will go the day after his birthday. Someone from the Academy, an instructor most likely, will come to fetch him."

"Are you going to miss him?"

"No, I won't. However, he and I have both been here together along with a few others for quite some time. While I doubt any of us will miss him, it will feel like something is missing," she responds.

"That it will."

I can see others around us nod their heads as well. Despite some of us having an antagonistic relationship, we did grow up with each other. It is a difficult emotion to comprehend, even after living twice.

Sigh

"Whatever. People will come and go in life."

"I can understand a little, I guess. I still miss Asia."

She chuckles, "All of us do. She was one of the most precious ones here. Not only that, she also had a sword and shield in you. I feel like part of the reason that she is more innocent than most is because you took the brunt of it for her. Even Alex, despite the way he acts, cared for her too."

I give her a deadpan look, "He tried to get her to hand over her money."

"Okay, so maybe he was an ass about it-"

"Where did you learn to curse Claire?" I ask.

"You do know that you and Alex have some pretty colorful arguments, right? While you two did make sure that Miss Rose was not nearby, you guys did not pay attention to the rest of us," she says with a smirk.

I look away from her knowing eyes.

"Hindsight 20/20, maybe I should have really cleared everyone out before his confrontations. Damn, I hope that Rose doesn't find out that some of them learned to curse from me, I still remember that punishment to the guy I accused of teaching me my 'first' word."

I return to meal to finish it before it gets cold and then go back to room to get ready for tonight.

XXX

When walking out alongside Rose this evening, I can see the weary on her face from stress.

"Should we take a break today?" I ask.

"Why?"

"…I heard what happened today while I was asleep," her face falters a little.

"It's fine. Thank you for your offer though."

I continue to stare at her and seems to notice.

"Look, sometimes making certain decisions are hard. But when you do, remember to show resolve to see it through. You can feel however you want afterwards, but to get things done you need to be strong. Alex is starting to get out of hand, while I could get him to change, I cannot simply ignore all of the others in order to focus on him. I will miss him though, after all, I did raise him and all of you. I know that this is the best choice for him down the road, but I will miss him."

I simply nod in response. I will trust her, if she says she is fine, then I will listen. However, my shoulder will always be here for her.

"Now that we have that out of the way, let's get started on what we are going to do today," she says.

"O' Earth, may you come forth and rise."

I can see around thirty magic circles appear on the ground. From them, Earth pillars, about as tall as she is, rise. The top of the pillars seems to be able to fit one of my feet with some wiggle room.

I front of the group of pillars I see a rectangular platform twice the height of the pillars rises as well.

"Today we will be working on your balance and your maneuverability. You will get up on top of one those pillars, which ever one you want, and you will hop from pillar to pillar," Rose explains.

"I feel like there is more," the smile that promises pain is back, mission abort, MISSION ABORT!

"While you are hopping around, I will be throwing these at you," she says as she holds up rubber balls.

"Won't you get tired of throwing those the whole time," I say hoping that she will use a different method.

"Don't worry your little head," she says as she taps my nose, "I will be using magic to send them at you."

I whimper.

"I need an adult."

"Silly Ryuuta, I am an adult."

For some reason I'm getting a sense of déjà vu here.

I just sigh and proceed to climb on to the center most pillar. It was kind of weird, I have to hug it and climb like I am a monkey.

As I balance myself with one foot on the pillar, I look up to see Rose on top of the platform.

"Go ahead and move around a little and get a feel of it. I will start in three minutes."

I look around before carefully lowering myself on my standing leg and push off on to the next pillar. I land with my other leg and almost fall but I save myself by using my arms to balance my body. I do the same thing again except instead of stopping, I continue to hop on to a different pillar.

As I move around, I start to pick up some speed. I notice that Rose did not set the pillars too far apart nor did she set them too close together. I do have to try to reach each pillar, but when I do, I always reach it. One jump I decided to use a little power and I almost fell off, luckily, I had enough speed to pull my other leg forward and put it on the pillar in front of me. The feeling of falling so suddenly is still a little frightening. I know that the ground is not that far, so this is a good chance to get used to that feeling. Better now than in a dangerous situation I suppose.

"Ryuuta, I am going to start."

"What! Wai-"

"DODGE!!"

I didn't have the luxury to ask anything as I noticed a small blur coming at me. I quickly scrambled on to the next pillar. I try to catch my balance, but I suddenly feel something hard hit my chest.

THUD

"Augh."

"Why didn't you dodge?"

That strange sense of déjà vu is back in full throttle.

"Come on now. Get back on top, we still have a whole night for your tor-training."

"Oi, you were about to show your true feelings there!"

"I have no idea what you mean," she says with a sweet smile that showed the pinnacle of innocence. I, however, will not be fooled. That smile is a death trap.

"Crap baskets."

I climb back on to the pillar and immediately take off once I see another blur coming. Not only is the ball itself painful, but to is the fall. I continue to hop around while frantically avoiding each ball.

At one leap in particular, I miss the pillar and fall forward to where my stomach lands on the pillar instead of my foot. As I stand up, I feel something push me off and I fall again.

THUD

The pain comes a little later and I can tell that I got hit again. My stomach is also hurting from this fall due to the way I landed on the pillar earlier.

I groan and climb back on to the pillar and start jumping again. As I jump forward, I notice a ball coming towards the pillar that I am about to land. I pivot my foot as fast as possible and I aim a little to the left side of the pillar and fall past it. Before I hit the ground, I use my right hand grab on to the edge of the pillar. I then use momentum of my forward fall to swing on to the next pillar in front of it.

"Impressive," I turn my head to face Rose as she compliments me, "I was expecting you to get hit at first, but then I saw you change direction, I had thought that you were giving up by not wanting to get hit. You broke my expectations again when you used your hand to swing up. Most impressive. This is part of what we are aiming for with this training, doing movements like that will only improve your maneuverability. Since you seem to be able to get a hang of this, I shall add more balls."

I see Rose pull even more rubber balls from her pockets.

I don't bother trying to speak this time and take off instead. At one point I hear a whizzing noise as it comes closer from my left, so I quickly tilt my head to the right just in time to see a ball fly by.

It seems that Rose did not want me to catch a break as she started to make the balls change in direction.

I had just dodged to the right when the ball, instead of continuing down its path, made a sharp turn into my chest and pushed me of the pillar that I am standing on.

"What in the world was that?!"

"Well you are starting to dodge more and more, so I thought to make this a little bit harder. Right now, the balls just turn once, but if you get really good at this, then I will start to make the balls home in on you," once again you are not fooling me with that smile.

"I am not sure I want to get better at this anymore."

"Then I will add more balls to help you want to get better."

"So, I am going to pelleted with rubber balls either way, aren't I?"

"Yes, this is very therapeutic for me after all."

I blink several times before I finish processing what I had just heard her say.

"Oi! Oi! You are starting to show your true colors again!"

She just gives a bright smile, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

I just sigh and get back on top of a pillar.

This continues for a few more hours with me taking a break every now and then. I am starting to feel sore all over from all of the places that I have been hit. It didn't help that the speed of the balls started to increase over time. The speed wasn't anything impressive though. I could still track them with my eyes, so its not like they were breaking the sound barrier or something.

Sure enough like she said, Rose had started to make the balls home in on me. It wasn't immediate, at first the balls changed directions twice then thrice then four times. After that, the balls would only stop after they had hit something. Usually that something was the ground, pillar, or me, but it was mostly me that got hit. At that point I did not dodge much anymore because it is hard to throw something that small off course. Fortunately, when the balls started to home in on me, Rose had lowered the amount being thrown at me.

And now here I am, breathing heavily while lying on the ground, drenched with sweat. Rose has already used magic to get rid of the pillars and level the ground.

"Can you get up and walk on your own, or do I need to carry you again?"

I open my eyes to see Rose looming over me.

"I can walk, and I am going to the showers first."

I get up and walk back home with Rose. We head our separate ways, I go to the bathroom, and she goes to her room to use her personal bath.

After a relaxing bath, I collapse in bed and drift into slumber.