Training and One of the Sacred Gear's Innate Abilities

[Concentrate!] the voice in my head, that I now knew as Crom, shouted, a hint of mirth in his voice as he spoke.

Gritting my teeth, I kept my one-handed handstand going, 'I am!' I shouted back. My fingers were pressing down on the ground, making it so my palm wasn't touching the floor and it made the hard act of balancing even harder. My muscles weren't stressed in the slightest but the act of balancing was keeping me on edge.

Why was that keeping my on edge?

My control slipped a little and I swayed off to the side just enough that I had to bring my other hand to stabilize myself but a shock of pain ran through my system as Crom spoke up with another laugh, [Concentrating my ass, kid! If you can't feel and access your energy when you're physically doing something then you're truly going to die in a real fight!]

Sighing, I pushed my left hand down and re-balanced myself back onto my right hand. Once I did this, I closed my eyes before I focused inward.

Just like I did earlier when Crom told me to sit down and find my energy, I found the energy - a mass of yellow in my chest. Don't ask how I can see it or even know it's color because I have no clue.

Concentrating my intent of moving a bit of the yellow mass to my limbs, I tried to force it on the energy. It rippled for a few seconds before a very thing string of yellow came from the ball.

Crom, nearly breaking my concentration, spoke up, [And dip,] he said and I had to hold back the urge to gnash my teeth at him as I began doing a one-handed handstand push-up. Like I said before, it wasn't harsh on my muscles. Not even a little bit taxing. Even before becoming a Devil I could do a handstand push-up so after the strength gain it was only normal I could now do a one-handed handstand push-up.

But the physical side wasn't what made this hard. It was the splitting of my focus. One part had to keep my body balanced as I dipped otherwise Crom would shock me with some kind of 'harmless' magic as he called it. While the other part had to focus my will upon my energy and move it to my foot.

I got halfway to my target, just about to cross over the knee area, when a slight slip of my concentration caused me to sway again as I pushed myself back up. The shock broke my focus and the thread of energy dissipated.

"Argh!" I gave a shout, more of frustration than pain, in response to this and I lowered my feet and stood up, 'Why can't I just use my Sacred Gear?! That helps me control the energy!' I complained with an indignant expression splayed across my face.

I tried to summon the Gear but it refused to show - no doubt because of Crom doing something.

[If you can't do this,] Crom started, his voice taking a sinister tone in my head, [Then you're sister won't survive long with such a weak brother protecting her,] he said and I stopped, rooted in place.

My eyes narrowed as I curled my hands into fists, "Shut up," I said with a crazed feeling welling up inside of me.

My sister had always been a soft point of mine. I wouldn't necessarily call myself a siscon. More of a protective older brother. The type that didn't like it when people connected my sister's potential death to me.

[Or what? You gonna fail at controlling your energy some more? Tch, I should've known a goody-two-shoes type wouldn't be able to use my powers correctly. Welp, all I need to do is wait for you to die and fail to protect your sister and then I'll go onto a, hopefully, better host,] he spoke with such a...nonchalant voice that I felt angered straight away.

Instead of giving me answers, tips--whatever he could, he was mocking me. Goading me into something. But I didn't care. Not after what he just said.

"Crom," I spoke with a calm voice that surprised even myself, "I know you're trying to goad me into doing something emotional. I know that you probably don't mean what you just said. But please remember that if you ever mention my sister dying again, in such a manner and with such a tone, one day I'll find a way to take you out of that Sacred Gear and I'll fucking murder you," I said with a smile that unnerved me.

I didn't know where these threats were coming from. I knew I was actively saying. But I didn't know where this cold calmness came from. I would've thought I'd have raged, shouting at him. But it appears I was wrong.

But deep inside me, my emotions were exactly as I thought they'd be.

Anger, mainly.

But this anger did something weird - it attracted the attention of the energy inside my chest. The yellow mass seemed to wiggle a few times, undulating under the presence of my anger, before it began to expand. If before it was like the size of a particularly large Orange, than now it was about the size of a Pineapple.

On reflex and due to my curiosity, I willed a string to come from it and despite the thickness of the string being the same, it seemed...leagues more durable and much denser.

Even as I was standing and walking to a nearby boulder, the string didn't even shake as I focused my concentration half and half. Half on this string and the other half walking to the boulder.

The string got to my shoulder, then my elbow, then my wrist, before finally reaching my knuckles.

The string continued to pool into my fist but it was soon sucked up by the ability I was about to use. This was why I'd been here training, after all - to use the damage multiplier of the Evil Dragon Gear without actually summoning the Gear. Apparently it was a valid training method used by some of Crom's old hosts.

Drawing back my fist, I remembered what it felt like when I hit Raynare and I amplified the damage by two before swinging forward with surprising speed.

Rias-senpai had told me that Rooks were meant to be slow and tank-like...but my punching speed seemed anything but slow.

The boulder was hit by the blurry fist and with a boom, my knuckles broke through the stone, blowing out the back of the rock. But it wasn't without troubles on my end. As my hand entered the rock, I felt the bones in my hand and fingers give in as they cracked and broke under the rebound force.

Crom had warned me of this. So had Sir Isaac Newton. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. I doubled my punching power, power which my body couldn't normally produce which means that same power is being rebounded back on my bones which can't handle it.

The fact I can double my punching power and not have my hands get completely mangled into mush speaks volumes about the defense increase from the Rook piece.

As I pulled my hand from the boulder, the cracks spread throughout it and it crumbled apart.

One hit. Double my normal punching power. It did more damage than I was expecting.

[You're underestimating the power given to you by your ancestors. Both of them were real muscle heads, so you having such power is normal. But you're still only living up to a fraction of your potential,] Crom spoke, a cheery yet serious tone to his voice.

"...I don't wanna hear from you right now, honestly," I said with a sigh, not even flinching as the bones in my hand healed back together. This pain...was nothing compared to what I felt during the Reincarnation ceremony when Crom interfered with his Dragon Aura. The main thing that still stung were my feelings. Crom, someone who'd explained himself as my partner for the rest of my life, had poked at such a soft spot for me.

Knowing what I know about him, after spending a day training with him, I can't say I'm surprised. Doesn't mean it doesn't make me angry at him.

[...I guess I'm sorry, kid,] Crom mumbled, [But I had to show you my main ability!] he said with what felt like an indignant expression.

"That anger increases my power?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, "You could've just said, you know?" I said with an uneasy smile - if he wanted me to experience everything before he told me, I was starting to worry for my life a little.

[No, no! That's the thing! It isn't just anger that can increase your power!] he said with an excited tone, [Excitement, happiness, lust, hatred--All of it can increase your energy! Only temporarily, of course, but still as long as those emotions last! It's not as easy to control as that Bastard's Boost but it's good enough to get you out of a tight spot as long as you can rouse your emotions high enough!] he said before laughing.

I was listening to him but I was also looking down at my newly healed hand.

It felt stronger. Only a little but enough to be obvious.

Crom seemed to notice my attention as he spoke with a slightly smug tone, [Oh, so it seems you've found another of my abilities. The healing doesn't just heal, kid, it reinforces the area of injury. It's only a slight reinforcement...but gather enough grains of dirt and you'll get a mountain one day!] he said and I had a bad feeling about something--[This'll be our training from now on! Reinforcing your limbs so you don't need the gauntlets all the time!]

"...So we're not doing that handstand push-up meditation anymore? Thank god--Ow!" I said before feeling a really hard headache rock my head back and forth like I was a pinball in a pinball machine. Rubbing my head, I gave an indignant expression, "Man, I forgot about that...It sucks ass," I said before thing got even 'worse'.

[Of course we're still doing that meditation! You can't always be juiced up on emotions so you've gotta learn how to control your energy properly! With enough of this meditation your energy will grow in size on it's own anyway!] Crom said with the same excited tone he used whenevr we spoke about training or fighting, [So it's a win/win! You gain control AND a bigger pool of energy to pull from!]

I sighed before getting back into a handstand and closing my eyes.

Though before I did that, Crom spoke, [...Look, I'm sorry about bring your sister into this, Leo. But Anger is the easiest emotion to draw out and use when you're a user of the Evil Dragon Gear. Happiness fades too quickly and hatred takes too much effort to draw out. Excitement has the same problem as Happiness - it's fleeting. For this sessions, Anger was the right emotion,] he said with a sincere tone, causing me to sigh.

"Why didn't we try Lust or something?" I asked, holding the handstand but doing nothing else. Crom just laughed...before he stopped.

[Wait a minute...kid, think of that Rias Gremory,] he said and despite feeling slightly awkward about it, I pictured an image of the beautiful redhead, [Now, imagine her without her clothes on,] he said and despite the absurdity of what a many-millennia-old Dragon just said, I imagined this morning when I woke up next to her, [...Okay, what next...Oh! Think of her thighs, Leo! You were thinking about them on the way over here!] he said and I held to hold back my tongue from calling her a memory peeking, pervert old lizard.

But I still pictured Rias-senpai's thighs. Milky white, not too thick, not too thin, soft but not too soft, firm but not too firm, and incredibly smooth! THE PERFECT THIGHS!

[Hahahahaha!] Crom began to laugh, almost maniacally, [This is hilarious! Thinking of that girls thighs is giving you half the energy you had when you got angry! You lust for her useless fatty meats around her upper leg is actually propelling you further in power--!]

'...Useless...fatty...meats? That's what you think thighs are??' I asked with a calm yet unnerving tone, 'How dare you! Bastard! Traitor! Judas! Betrayer!' I roared internally. Calling thick thighs useless fatty meat? Is there anything more treacherous and blasphemous than this?!

[Hahahahaha!] despite me cursing him, Crom just began to laugh even more, [This is unbelievable! To think such thoughts would push your energy to inflate even further! Hahahaha!]

This carried on with me cursing and Crom laughing until my embarrassment finally caught up to me.

I'd gone on another rant and rage about thighs.

...God I hope Issei and Anna never find out about this. The disappointment in my little sister's eyes was too much! Even Issei said I was going too far! I mean, what a hypocrite, am I right--Stop it, Leo. You're about to throw yourself into another ant about why thighs are better than breasts...though this time it'd probably end up in a fight between two Devils...

[When we next meet this Rias-senpai you hold in such high regard, I'm definitely going to tell her about this!] Crom roared with laughter once again and I felt my face pale a little.

"Y-you can't do that, right?" I asked with a weak laugh of my own.

But that my Sacred Gear summoned itself and the black gem on the back of my right hand flashed a very dark gold color, "Oh, I definitely can do that," came Crom's voice.

...Well, at least I know that Rias-senpai's a bit perverted herself. Otherwise she wouldn't have acted like an exhibitionist earlier this morning. Gotta stay hopeful, Leo. Optimism is the key. No despair here.

...Something told me that was my hero blood keeping me from despairing.