DXD SI : Chapter 96 : Aldric's Training Arc & Background Ongoings.... (Patreon)

Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters appearing in High School DXD or the Anime or the manga whatsoever.

Inner Sanctum, the Garden

–Magdaran Bael–

He sighed in relief and stared at the ice-cold chocolate milkshake in his hand. Honestly, out of all the products he had made so far, this one took the cake, being the easiest to digest and easy to make as well. It had very little energy for someone of his power, and was so tasty that he couldn’t help but drink it every time he had a little break. Right now, he was on a little break from making so many new products, most of them for testing purposes.

Not for consumption by the Norse people. No, they were great people who wouldn't think twice before gulping down an entire barrel of alcohol, which was the strongest variant he could make without outright poisoning even the Norse. Yup, he had wine that could overwhelm even Asgardians, and that was one of his bigger achievements. But the Norse were not really known for their fine, refined taste palettes that would allow them to give him proper reviews about everything that was present in the wine itself. 

No, for that, he needed a wide variety of people tasting everything, with different food items, and to get that extensive reporting, he needed to gather a diverse group of people, ranging from really powerful to somewhat powerful to decent to even low class. All of those people were present in one place in the Oppai Club. Once again, leveraging the Norse resources, he was able to get his product going.

……It was really no wonder why the rest of the supernatural world would think that the Pharmacist was not just associated with, but was outright a part of the Norse Pantheon, if he could somehow access resources that Odin had spent centuries cultivating and had not shared with anyone outside of the Pantheon, not even with Azazel, who was basically his sole partner and liaison with the rest of the supernatural world.

Otherwise, the Norse Pantheon was basically focused on keeping to themselves, and only rarely venturing out whenever a neutral party was sought, or if some members had to be rescued or had to be dealt with. The Norse dealt with their own problems too, which is why he supposed that most of the supernatural world preferred Odin to be the neutral party in most disputes.

Shaking his head, he looked up as Aldric arrived, looking similarly tired, and yet, his magic did not stop doing its magic as he interacted with the small tree root that snaked behind him, as if a duckling running after the mother. The free and genuine laughter on Aldric’s face as he rubbed the tree root as if it was a pet made him smile unconsciously. 

He was just glad that the one who brought Aldric out of the Sleeping Sickness was him, instead of some other asshole with access to the Graal, or worse, dying after being forgotten by time. It would be such a shame to have someone with so much talent die out without even getting the chance to leave their imprint on the world.

And Aldric was one such devil. He could tell that, even now. The way Aldric had taken to all that he had learned over his years of experimentation was astonishing. It made him wonder just how strong the Zagan ancestor was, or how skilled he was, but then he was reminded of the fact that of the entire Zagan line, the only one who was smart, strong, and willful enough to tell the rest of the Devil world to fuck off to focus on his one and only calling was Zagan, and he lost all interest in the feats of his Ancestor.

What good was another record of killing this many Fallen or these many Angels, when they probably couldn't boast of creating a plant that would, over time, outright change the constitution of Devils or humans as well. According to what Aldric told him about a diet he created out of some vegetable strings that could no longer be found anywhere in the underworld, for humans, it was somewhere around 25 generations, and for Devils, it was 30 generations.

So, around six or seven centuries for humans and…who knows how long for Devil kind, as it required the next generation to be birthed naturally, not through whatever process Lilith used. Sure, it basically meant that only for a small change, but one across the board of the entire bloodline, it would take thirty generations, a period of time most devils couldn't even think of, as Devils were really long lived, but it was such revolutionary work, far more valuable than just another kill record, that he couldn't help but be in awe of the notes.

The man had immediately begun his work on that as well, recreating entire stacks of notes from memory as the enthusiasm about being able to work on his preferred subject gave him practically unlimited energy.

Shaking his head, he reached his hand into the cooler and threw a can of chilled milk towards the Zagan, who was busy petting the tree root as if it were a dog. The tree root was the one that reacted immediately, its tendril shooting out to stab through the can, only to change course at the last moment, to circle around the can and bring it to Aldric, who had taken control of the root at the last moment.

It would have been fine either way. Aldric’s own version of Mother Tree was regularly eating stuff that would make most other supernatural factions weep in envy, as the Mother Tree too had taken a liking to the small, nano sized Tree that Aldric was growing up in the Inner Sanctum. In fact, he hadn’t even needed to direct the Mother Tree to do anything. By itself, the Mother Tree had taken over the growth of the Micro Mother Tree, providing it with the best of stuff, something that Aldric clearly appreciated.

Aldric sat down on a chair in front of him, drinking his own milkshake, appearing visibly rejuvenated by the drink itself, making him grin at a job well done. After that, he realised that yes, for now he was a little bored, and yes, he had quite an entertaining method of getting rid of that bedroom in front of him. As he thought when he first decided to take in Aldric as his first official student.

Why should Thor have all the fun torturing his students?

Grinning evilly, he stood up, making Aldric look up at him mid sip of the shake. He gestured at the man to go on, “Continue. We have important work to do after this. So, you better enjoy that.”

Aldric eyed him with confusion for a moment before realisation filled his wide eyes, making him just a tad bit happier from the inside.

It was time to get to tort–Ahem-training.

___xx___

“AAAAAAAAaaa.” A scream filled the clearing in the Outer Sanctum as they were in the middle of training.

“Come on,” he gestured as the Mother Tree did its best to suck Aldric dry of his Demonic Energy–Wait. That came out wrong. Anyway, the Mother Tree currently had two roots stabbed into Aldric’s torso, wiggling in place as Aldric was forced to output all his Demonic Energy constantly into a specialised container that the Mother Tree had created.

It was the fastest way he could conceive of to create a larger pool of Demonic Energy for the Zagan to use. Sure, having humongous amounts of Demonic Energy was not the be all and end all when it came to combat, but Demonic Energy was absolutely necessary to fight Devils of similar tier in a head on fight. It defined the magical stamina of a Devil when it came to fighting for a longer period of time, throwing around techniques that consumed a ton of Energy.

Sure, it was incredibly painful, but Aldric had asked for it, and they had a safe word that Aldric hadn’t used even once. It did help that he had promised Aldric that once he reached peak Ultimate Class in strength, he would be free to roam the rest of the world without any issue. In truth, he was going to have to be low Satan Class before anything could be done, though, as the Old Satan faction was still around, just waiting for any reason for hostilities to resume.

There was also Rizevim Lucifer, the biggest headache in his opinion, as the other Super Devils could be handled somewhat, but Rizevim was the unpredictable factor, and he would much rather deal with a predictable and level headed Ajuka than Rizevim.

Shaking his head, he looked at the slumped form of Aldric as the Mother Tree removed its roots, and approached the man. Just as he was about to place his hand on Aldric’s shoulder to give him an infusion of Demonic Energy, the Micro Mother Tree that Aldric was cultivating reared up in front of him like a cobra, its tip rippling in place, as if threatening him or warning him not to move forward.

Shaking his head, he kept his hand still, waiting, and as expected, Aldric’s hand touched the root and gently but firmly pushed it down as the Zagan looked straight up at him and said weakly, “Do it.”

His smile widened at the resolve as he placed his hand on Aldric’s shoulder, giving him the much needed boost of Demonic Energy as well as healing most of the tears in his body, along with the Demonic Energy that was spreading haphazardly everywhere in his body. Aldric’s body straightened up immediately, the man’s face brightening up and eyes opening fully, only for a full body shiver to run through him as the Mother Tree’s roots came back into his vision.

He removed his hand, his task done, as he stepped back and sat down on the chair. He watched as the Mother Tree approached the Zagan, the shivering gone as a determined look replaced it. This time, even he winced at the squelching sound the Roots made when they burrowed into the devil’s body, siphoning off all the newly received Demonic Energy, all so Aldric could have a much bigger container of Demonic Energy.

As he had understood over his years of training, research, and more, the average Devil physique could take a lot of abuse before outright failing, especially if something managed to heal it back up to top shape instantly. It was even more pronounced for Pillar Devils, no matter the lineage. Sure, some houses were more focused on their physique, but even the more academically inclined Devils, like the Dantalions, had enough of that base Devil physique in them that, through extreme training, they could become just as strong as a Touki focused Devil, of which there were none right now.

He watched as Aldric held the scream in for quite a while before the pain became too much and he began screaming intensely, though he did note that this time, the scream came about 5 seconds later than the last session.

That meant progress. Rapid progress at that.

___xx__

–Vali–

She was walking through the Grigori Halls, ignoring the varying looks she received from the human members, Fallen Angels, and even some of the Youkai, as she walked towards her quarters.

Today had been a long day, and she did not wish to be awake longer than necessary. After all, tomorrow she was going to—

Her thoughts halted, her hand frozen on the door handle, before she pushed through, walking towards her bed casually, only to turn around and throw in spikes made up of Demonic Energy, impaling the intruder on the wall, or rather, that’s what she wanted to do, but the intruder dodged the attack, which made her summon her full Scale Mail.

She was about to attack once more, only for the perception magic being used to hide the person from her enhanced sight to be dispelled, revealing the face of Azazel, who was looking at her with a raised eyebrow and a smile she was unfamiliar with. It was not one she had ever been on the receiving end of.

“So,” Azazel began, taking a step forward to rotate a chair and sit on it casually, “How goes the meeting with Ophis and the Old Satan faction?”

A chill ran down her spine at that, as she looked at the face of the Governor General of the Grigori.

____xx___

–Serafall–

She was fast asleep inside her office, something that was becoming the norm these days. With Ajuka going completely non contact and Sirzech’s condition still unknown to her, she could barely sleep, and what little shut eye she managed to get, she did so in her office, ready to tackle the threat the moment it reared its ugly head. 

Or, that’s what she thought when she prepared for bed in her office. But, so far, she hadn’t heard of anything that might—

Her thoughts halted as she felt Behemoth running towards her office, which was odd since he could just teleport and had direct teleport access to her office as part of her peerage, which meant that whatever it was, it had rattled her rook enough to run instead of using his magic.

The doors to her office were mashed open as Behemoth barged in, a rare look of panic on her face.

“M-My Lady! We have reports of Satan Belzebub engaging and destroying multiple Old Satan Faction outposts. Confirmed deceased include Katerea Leviathan, Shalba Beelzebub & Creuserey Asmodeus, along with over a hundred other Devils dead.”

Her eyes widened in horror as Behemoth just kept on going.

What the fuck?

Did Ajuka just wake up and decide to erase the current leadership of the Old Satan Faction in one go?

Why would he do that?

“My Lady?” She was brought out of her thoughts by Behemoth. “What shall we do?”

She snapped out of it and took a deep breath. Even if Ajuka wasn’t telling them anything, she was still a Satan, and as such, it fell to her to deal with such issues.

Technically, the Old Satan faction was not a part of the current government of Devils; hence, they could be considered a Foreign Faction. So, technically, this was her domain, and so she was going to have to…take action.

What action, though?