Nekoshou Wolf Chapter 4 First Part - Unfishined (Patreon)

Yo, been busy for a few days but i managed to get this part done in between. It's both unedited, and unfinished, but its a solid 8K for the first part of the chap. 

Chapter 4:

“Hm?” The old wolf peered over his students shoulder, seeing him working away in a workbook with a pencil. “You enjoy drawing, child?”

“Mn. It soothes me.” Hei replied absentmindedly while his pencil traced along the page, lead painting the image to a face that echoed in his memories.

The old man hummed and watched Hei draw. His experienced gaze trailed to the fully drawn image on the opposite page, and the outline of it again through the back of the page. “An acquaintance?”

Hei’s pencil paused for a moment as he studied the image he was drawing, the sketch of the feminine face staring back at him. “My mother.” He traced the sketch with a finger idly. “She died when I was born, but I was aware at the time.” His mind took him back to that moment. The moment when someone looked at him with more love than he ever had in two lives. “The way she looked at me. Like I was the center of her universe in that one moment. It burned itself into me.” There was a sense of slight longing in his young voice that the older man kindly didn’t point out.

“Do you draw her often?”

“Yeah. A couple times a week. I don’t want to forget her face.”

A hand gently landing on his shoulder snapped Hei out of a trance as he looked up at the neutral face of his teacher. “Do you mind, child?” His free hand reached forward in question.

“Huh? Oh, go for it.” Hei handed it over without care. He wasn’t shy about his hobby.

The old man studied it closely, humming appreciatively at the attention to detail he saw. “Not bad, not bad at all.” Then, to Hei’s surprise, the old man waved a hand to make room and sat down beside him. “But it could use some work. To properly draw a sketched face, you need to start from…”

The old man entered his lecturing mode, and Hei naturally leaned in attentively without really realizing it, so used to their dynamic by that point.

For the rest of the night, the old man taught him a dozen new tricks to play with, showing him step by step how to improve. Neither noticing when the clock struck past the time they were supposed to sleep.

And many years later, Hei would look down at his drawings and recall that night fondly, remembering the old wolf by his side, gently guiding him like how he could only imagine a father would.

0000

December, 1997.

Deep in the forests of the Montserrat Mountains, a bare hour away by car from Mr. Lupa’s rural home, a shadow was speeding through the terrain to the top, using only the hazy light of the moon and stars to light his way.

An ear twitched at the faint sound of a bowstring before the shadow twisted around a tree trunk, already kicking off to continue on as the bark of the tree shielded him from a trio of deadly sharp crossbow bolts.

The shadows footsteps were near silent, making nary a sound even as he rapidly moved through foliage and loose sedimentary stone.

Powerful legs left no trace of prints, and yet used enough force to propel the figure from one tree to another, moving at nearly a forty-five degree angle in a race against time.

Deep bellowing breathes left a pair of lungs in a controlled rhythm as a diaphragm of perfectly optimized muscles that would baffle scientists the world over pumped oxygen in and carbon dioxide out.

A gleam in the night flashed, barely visible but locked onto by sharp red irises that shrunk in focus as the shadow adjusted his course in the span of seconds to swing under a hanging branch, avoiding a dozen shards of ice flying into his previous path.

The momentum of his movement didn’t stop there as the figure contorted his body into the most suitable geometric angle to swing upwards and grab onto the sheer cliff of the rock spire to push himself on.

But his efforts were seemingly predicted as a hidden string pulled taught as his body moved passed, causing five hair thin needles coated in paralytic poison to launch his way.

With nothing to use as leverage or defense, the figure had to parry, pulling out a thin blade from his leather bracer to knock away as many as he could.

Two made it through and stabbed into the flesh of his left shoulder, numbing the muscles there in seconds. But even as the poison pushed through his blood, antibodies flooded the area to fight back.

Although he was down an arm down for the moment, the shadow made no move to stop as fingers stabbed into stone hard enough to create indents, giving him a hold to launch himself upward with force that would surprise anyone who gazed at his lithe frame.

The needles were pulled out without a glance and used as throwing weapons to trigger two further traps in his way, allowing him to pass without harassment.

He danced in the moonlight, a figure of optimized perfection like fine steel pulled from a furnace after many, many, poundings of a hammer.

On and off he changed directions, avoiding traps where he caught them and dodging the ones he tripped in his haste. He was an arrow in the wind, tearing through with point blank judgement guiding his way upward.

Every now and then, a silent blade or blast of magic that had nothing to do with the traps would be sent flying his way with no warning, and he would have to dodge by instincts and intuition alone.

Minor wounds accumulated on his journey in small scratches, tiny holes from debris or needles, and the errant bleeding cut from bladed edges, slowly dying his undershirt red, but even as drops of blood dripped from his frame, he knew they were naught but surface wounds, having been purposefully taken to avoid worse injuries.

Occasionally, target frames of all shapes from humanoid to beastly would shoot up between the trees, giving him spare moments to process them and grab at pistols holstered to his lower back, firing off shots to hit targets between the eyes or through the heart as he moved on.

His marathon began at the base of the mountain, having been trapped in a pit filling with water and continuing as he ran for the better part of two hours, drenching his body in sweat, blood, and debris before he finally broke through the elevation to reach a flat clearing at the top of one of the mountains stone spires.

The light of the moon shone done brightly, illuminating the shadows face to reveal a wild panting grin.

With black hair pulled back in a knot and red eyes gleaming brightly, ten year old Hei crouched low as he hyper focused on the standing figure of his aged teacher a short distance away, eying him with a look of pure pride and battle lust.

Hei slowly stood from his crouch, reaching a steady four and half feet in height, with a frame better fit for an Olympic swimmer than a boy his age.

A leather chest plate stuck to his upper body, accompanied by similarly materialled braces and greaves, under which only a bare t-shirt and combat pants adorned his frame with a pair of steel tipped boots.

Hei breathed deep of the chilled mountain air as he slowly began to circle the stone pillars edge.

His teacher moved in unison, without a single sign of wear from his own time moving through the woods.

Exhaustion creeped into his bones, his eyelids grew heavy, his limbs like lead, and yet he never took his eyes off his foe. A flick of a switch dropped the magazines from both guns as he reloaded from a variety of magazines stationed along his thighs.

A voice like a whisper drifted through the clearing to his ears. “Good. Never show weakness. Break the moral of those who know how far they pushed you. Become something more than a man.” The old man’s words were spoken gently, yet they were clearly heard over the harsh wind blowing at their elevation.

“You must be able remain unseen.” For a bare moment, an errant cloud blocked the path of the moon, and in the ensuing flash of darkness, Hei’s only warning was the faint sound of sliding metal off to his side as he raised his pistols in a cross guard to halt the paper thin edge of a blade inches from his neck. “You must become something to be feared.”

Red irises shrunk to pinpricks as a cold drop of sweat went down his spine. “Damn old man, you’re really going for the kill there.”

The calm and measured voice of his teacher responded with a faint smirk as an aged hand tightly gripped the handle of a cane sword. “If one does not face a true threat of death, how can they grow to prepare for it?”

“Isn’t this a little literal?”

“Not at all, if I wanted you dead you would be dead.”

“Well isn’t that a nice thought.”

Hei twisted his grip as the muzzles pointed forward, firing off shots at point blank range, but even as he flicked the trigger of his fully customized Glock G20’s with a serrated top guard, reinforced to handle the abuse of cutting forces, his teachers thin blade still managed to deflect the fired shots away and slice the barrel off one of them.

A growl left his lips as he backflipped out of the way of the seeking blade, firing shots from both guns upside down and allowing the recoil from the 10mm rounds to alter his bodies landing point. "Can you please stop destroying my pistols? They are not cheap you know!"

The shots from his intact pistol were sliced down the middle, while the slower bullets from his ruined pistol were dodged entirely. "Your enemies will not stop to consider your financial situation." The point of a blade thrust forward and was barely dodged by a hairs breath as Hei kicked out to get space. "And you have hundreds, stop complaining, child." The old man pressed his advantage, forcing Hei into close quarters.

Back and forth their limbs flashed in a dance of martial ability, always planning moved ahead to try and gain the advantage. "Thats not point. Who do you think puts them together?"

An errant swing tore off another inch of his ruined pistols barrel as the old man chuckled audibly. "Not my problem."

Hei deadpanned in annoyance and returned the favor by unloading his clip, gaining a second to push back and reload before his teacher was on him again.

‘I won’t be able to hit him straight on, I need to box him toward the edge of the platform.’

Hei’s hands flashed rapidly as he fired and moved like his life depended on it, because it did as his teacher relentlessly pressed him.

He switched entirely to using the ruined pistol to block the blade when he couldn’t dodge, using his intact one in a mix of close range acrobatics and 9mm rounds to fire off shots and force the old man to move in a certain direction.

‘Slow and gradual, don’t let him notice.’ Minor wounds accumulated as he forced himself not to rush, pushing his weary body to the limit as he moved as fast as his highly trained senses could follow his teachers movements while simultaneously keeping aware of his surroundings.

He was also forced to use a single gun at a time, dropping empty magazines and reloading from the lines on his thighs before the old one even hit the ground.

‘I just need an opening. A single second to act.'

The old man’s blade picked up speed the longer they went, and as an errant swing tore open a gash through Hei’s chest armor, he caught sight of a camouflaged snake wrapped around a stone a bare few feet away.

He quickly turned his back to the rock, choosing to sacrifice the remaining handle of his ruined gun entirely as a thrown weapon in order to back handspring, using his now free hand to scoop the stone and launch it forward.

The old man’s blade flashed forward without pause, not considering a rock an obstacle, only for the blood of the snake to splash his way, making his teachers eyes widen a fraction before it splattered against his face.

With a cheeky smirk, Hei opened fire without hesitation.

But just because he was momentarily blinded didn’t mean his teacher would react any slower as he dodged, cut, or deflected the bullets with senses honed to an extent Hei could only marvel at.

However, his purpose was still achieved as the old man was forced to move in the direction of Hei’s choosing, having aimed his bullets at precise points to make it seem natural.

‘Five more steps.’

He ran out of 9mm round magazines and switched entirely to 10mm.

‘Three more steps.’

His remaining pistol had a deep gash torn into the barrel.

‘One more step!’

Hei’s adrenaline spiked as he went in for the kill.

The old man was unknowingly taking his next step off the edge of the platform, and Hei’s barely intact gun was moving into his guard, ready to take position at the moment his teachers blade lowered to reset his footing.

Victory was so close; he could taste it. ‘Finally!’ Years of brutal training, with each progressive one ramping up in intensity and lethality all led up to this one moment. The chance he was waiting for to finally checkmate the old wolf.

But the old man would be a poor teacher if he didn’t have any lessons left to teach his prized pupil. Mr. Lupa’s sheath in his off hand, a flimsy piece of wood he used as a walking aid, which was never used in any of their previous matches, jammed into Hei’s hip at the last second, throwing him off balance and allowing the old man to grab Hei’s collar and twist them around as Hei’s shot missed by inches.

A silence hung in the air as Hei ended up hanging over the side of pillars edge, with only the hold on his collar keeping him from plummeting. “Please tell me that’s your sword poking my back.”

“….” A cuff to the side of his head was his response as he was tossed back onto the platform on his ass. “Disrespectful brat.” Mr. Lupa wiped the blood from his eyes with a sigh.

“Maybe if you stopped hitting my head I would be more respectful you crafty old wolf!”

The same song and dance repeated for the thousandth time as Hei and his teacher bickered with sparks flying between their gazes until they ran out of breath.

“So, how did I do?” The calm question left Hei’s lips as he eased back.

“You committed without confirming you had me. I told you to always aim for check, never checkmate. Too many unstable factors. If your foe is stronger in power, skill, and knowledge, then chip away at them or run.” His teacher responded easily.

Hei scoffed and idly tossed his ruined pistol away. “As if I could chip away or run from you. I was running out of stamina after that marathon up here. You knocked me out, drugged me, and left me tied up and blindfolded in a pit filling with water at the base of the mountain around midnight. It’s almost sunrise old man, I was running out of steam.”

Rather than continue to lecture him, the old man simply hummed and turned away to face the horizon. “Indeed. Without a single use of your Sacred Gear, you managed to free yourself and chose the best possible path forward, executing it to the best of your ability. Rather remarkably at that.”

A scowl grew on Hei’s lips as he leaned back on his hands in annoyance. “Still lost.”

“This test was not to defeat me in combat.”

“….it wasn’t?” Hei commented in surprise and looked over at the old man standing with his hands over his cane looking out into the distance.

A chuckle rumbled in his teachers chest as he side eyed his student. “No child, it was not. This was a test of your all around skill in stealth, physical conditioning, critical thought process, tactical thinking, combat prowess, spatial awareness, and reaction speed. In almost all those areas, you have surpassed my expectations of where I thought you would be at your current age.”

Hei looked away with a slight flush at the praise as he pretended to check over a cut in one of his bracers. “‘Almost’ means I had weaker areas.”

“It does.” Mr. Lupa replied without missing a beat.

“Ugh. It’s always something.” Hei sighed and dropped down on his back. He very rarely, if ever, whined about his training, but after everything he had been through, he just wanted to get into the action already. 'Whats the point of training to be an assassin if you don't get to kill anyone?'

The old man only seemed amused at his reaction. “No matter how far you grow Hei, there will always be area’s to improve. Look toward these stone spires around us, notice their cracks and crevices. See where the stones are loose and brittle. And when you look upon your foes, do not look upon them as impenetrable mountains demanding awe. Look for the cracks, find the crevices, and seek to widen them to topple them.” A strong gust blew by, ruffling their clothes in the wind as eyes full of wisdom looked down fondly upon the younger male with something akin to familial affection. “And when we look upon ourselves, so to should we look for those crevices so that we may build on them, reinforce them, and become ever more firm on the path to the top.” An aged palm reached down in offering. “There will always be crevices to improve on Hei. Every mountain has them.”

Those final words echoed in his ears as he stared at the palm with his mind flashing back to their very first meeting half a decade before as the same hand was offered to him. ‘I really came a long way, haven’t I?’

“You have, child.”

Hei blinked and looked up at the smug face of his teacher with a scowl. “How do you keep doing that?” He grabbed the offered hand and got hauled to his feet like a feather. “I know for a fact you’re not reading my thoughts.”

“Your poker face is still shit.”

“Joy said it was fine!”

“Joy didn’t say anything. You assumed that’s what she said.”

“But…I…you…grah!”

Hei knew he couldn’t argue and gripped his face in annoyance while his teacher guffawed and reached around to pull Hei in a gentle headlock . “I’m proud of how far you have come Hei. You should know you beat not only your own time on that course tonight, but my own as well.”

Hei’s eyes widened from where he struggled within the hold. “I did?!” He momentarily forgot to keep pretending to struggle as he looked up at his teacher.

“Well, it was my record from when I was fifteen, but yes, you did.” The old man said offhandedly.

Hei’s expression became complicated as he pushed the old man off. " I can’t tell if I should be proud of that or not.”

Mr. Lupa chuckled as Hei stood beside him at the ledge, both watching as the sky began to light up in the distance. “Of course you should. It’s no easy feat to match me. I started younger than you did and complained far less with much harsher training.”

“Wait, really?”

“No, of course not. I’m quite proud of how harsh I made your training. I enhanced what my own teacher did to me thanks to that gear of yours being stupidly broken. I couldn’t ask for a better student to match my elite training methods.”

“….just taking whatever scraps you can get old man, aren’t you?”

Hei dodged the swat to the back of his head on instinct.

“What have I told you about respect?”

“That’s it’s a useful tool to get close to a target and kill them without a trace.”

“Mn. Good, you were listening.”

Teacher and student stood there silently before making eye contact and breaking out into laughter. The distant sun began to peak over the horizon as the two stood undaunted in the wind, laughing freely as they leaned against each other.

For a single moment, they were free and without a care in the world, letting Hei feel a warmth he never even knew he craved. A feeling he only briefly felt in the moment his mother held him. And in the next, the old man’s laughter transitioned into a rough cough and those feelings vanished to be replaced with concern.

“Teacher?”

Hei was quick to raise a hand to pat the older man's back, but he was waved off a second later. “I’m fine, I’m fine. Just allergies is all.”

‘It’s December old man.’ Hei’s words went unsaid but they both knew it. It wasn’t the first time Mr. Lupa had begun coughing, and despite Hei’s attempts to keep him healthy, he still seemed to be slowing down with the passing years. ‘We soak in the hot springs every day, and I keep sneaking the Rejuvenation Pill into his food every year, so why does he seem to keep getting worse?’

The cough passed soon as his teacher stood tall and breathed deep of the crisp morning mountain air. “Ah, it’s always good to get a good workout this early.”

“You ok old man? Didn’t bust a hip on me or anything?” Hei commented jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

Mr. Lupa scoffed and swung his cane too fast for Hei to see, smacking into Hei’s shoulder where he had been paralyzed hours before with an audible thwack.

“Motherfuc..!”

"What have I told you about cursing?" Another stick thwack landed inside Hei's guard without him being able to see it.

"Fuck!"

The stick was raises a third time before Hei wisened up and took some distance.

The old man chuckled. "Worry about yourself first child. Just because you have grown resistant to the poison and regained movement of your limbs doesn’t mean the damaged areas are recovered. You relied too much on one side during our spar.”

Hei grudgingly rubbed his throbbing shoulder. “Can you please teach me a lesson without inflicting pain?"

“Nonsense, pain is the greatest teacher.”

“Then what are you here for?”

“To inflict the pain of course.”

“….My revenge will be swift.”

“Not in my lifetime it won’t.” The old man laughed openly and Hei could only get pulled into the humor of it as he rolled his shoulder. “Stop lollygagging son, let’s get home and soak in the springs. I’m not as young as I once was.”

“Yeah, you’re practically ancient.”

“Oho~, seems my student has some more energy, hm?”

Hei rolled his eyes at the empty threat and pulled on his mana as a magic formation grew on the ground beneath his feet. “Stop trying to abuse me and get in here old man. I’m curious what Joy made for breakfast.”

“Mn. She is a remarkable chef.” Mr. Lupa stepped beside him as the formation began charging up. “I’m afraid we have been spoiled by her. I no longer find my usual favored restaurant the same.”

“Tell me about it. I tried to get some lessons in the kitchen from her and got picked up like a kitten and dropped outside. How the hell does she do that? I can’t even see her move.”

"Neither can I."

"Wait, really?!"

“Some mysteries are best left unprovoked dear student.”

“Of course teacher.”

The student bowed to the wisdom of his teacher before they both laughed as the formation took hold and sent them home with a bright flash of light.

0000

‘Oh yeah~, this is the life.’ Hei groaned in comfort as he floated in the steaming waters of his healing hot spring. The old man had left a minute earlier to deal with something, leaving Hei to soak and relax on his own. ‘I can’t thank the Christian God enough for including this card. Otherwise, I’d be broke on healing spell cards.’

A week didn’t go by without him getting some kind of injury. From minor things like scrapes, to small cuts and lacerations, to torn muscles or bone fractures, to even straight out broken limbs.

He had even lost fingers in accidents but thankfully his healing Spell Cards were capable of handling that that level of injury.

Spell Card #11: Water of Life – Washes a single target in healing water of life. Heals all minor to medium injuries in seconds but does not cure illness’s, curse’s, or missing organs/limbs.

‘I was worried that it wouldn’t heal cut off fingers but thankfully it worked when I put the cut off pieces up against the stump. The experience still sucked thouyh.’ His most powerful healing card was always available, but like his teacher had said, it was best to save it till the end of the year in case of real emergencies.

There were twenty Spell Cards with a variety of effects among his collection, but there was no need to waste them when he didn’t have to. ‘I only get one spell card a month, better to let them accumulate for when I need them, especially since I can just heal minor injuries in the hot springs.’

Greed Islands Spell Cards contained various effects from healing, defense, transportation, communication, tracking, and even what Hei considered a pure joke card.

Spell Card #1: Peek - View targets undergarments. Must be in visual range.

‘Well, it is the world of DxD, and no matter how real it gets, its still a lewd world.’ Some of his cards had been a source of great amusement over the years. Many were useful. Some were crazy. And others were just weird. But since that weirdness was to Hei’s benefit, he wasn’t all that bothered by them.

Generally speaking, there were three ways Hei had discovered he could activate a card.

Placing it in the activation slot, in which case the cards effects would show on the video screen, giving him the chance to cancel the activation and put the card back without using it.

Holding a specific card in his hand and saying ‘Gain’ out loud. In which the card would immediately go into effect how he wished. The screen would still be used when applicable, but there were no take backs.

And the last way was to simply leave a card alone for sixty seconds outside the binder, in which case it would activate with no target. If he turned a car into a Free Slot card and left that card alone for sixty seconds, the car would appear wherever the card was left.

The book itself was not a weapon as it only hovered over his hand, and it was difficult to incorporate cards into direct combat use, but it did seem to be damage resistant as no matter what Hei and the old man hit it with, it stayed still in the air like an unmovable object.

The crafty old wolf had pondered if it could be used as a last second shield is deployed correctly, but neither him or Hei were willing to really push it without good reason. So it was up to Hei to figure out how best to use it himself. As a Sacred Gear with no history to study on, he was in uncharted territory, and it was best for him as the user to figure out how to use it.

He had to try and notice anything about it and take notes, seeing what worked and didn't. What he could adjust and couldn't.

And thanks to that, two years down the line, he realized that his Gear was using mana to activate. ‘It was tiny amounts at first, but it seems that little loophole of itemizing Designated Cards so I don’t waste them each year backfired.’ It took a constant flow from Hei’s mana pool to keep an item materialized. He spent nothing to actually use them but keeping them around had a draining effect. And while one or two didn’t matter, it added up over time. ‘Makes me wonder if that fucker Oscar knew about it. No wonder the trash panda was always excited for me to make new safehouses.’

Over the last six years, Hei couldn’t resist the desire to make more safehouses. They were simply too useful and interesting to pass up.

And with the aid of long distance teleportation,, the world was open for him to peruse at his leasure, going where his heart pleased to set up in locations that called to him.

A shelter at his teachers home in Barcelona, Spain.

A garden and training field in the lavender fields of Provence, France.

A general warehouse inside a mountain of one of nature’s beautiful Swiss Alps.

A weapons and gear locker in a side street in one Venice, Italy’s many water channels.

A vacation home on the beaches of Cyprus, the so called Island of Aphrodite in the south of Turkey.

And a high security vault in midland Australia, miles from any form of inhabited life and the place considered the supernatural dumping grounds for bodies, broken magical experiments, or anything you wanted to disappear. Australians weren’t the only ones who feared the horrors that walk those lands.

Each safehouse was equipped with all the benefits of his first, from snake golem guards that had increased lethality of venom depending on what he fed them, to the teleportation and divination blockers, to the fruit tree and fish pond, to all the amenities that he could outfit them with, along with a Joy panda maid to maintain them as there was no self-cleaning feature.

Each card added another tiny block onto the pull of his mana, and if anything, Hei was actually baffled by how he managed to keep up with it.

Floating in the water, he raised a palm up to eye level in curiosity, remembering his teachers lessons of the tiers of strength in the world. ‘Humans have the hardest time growing their energy pools. All beings can learn how to wield physical or magical abilities, and each race has their benefits and weaknesses, but energy is where the line is drawn. With enough energy, a simple fireball spell could incinerate the world.’

Mr. Lupa’s words rang in his ears as he recalled his five year old self sitting in their little classroom, learning the rules of the wider world. “You must understand child, in the eyes of the world, first will always come raw power. Even the smallest blade can be used to pierce the weakest point of the largest foe, but raw power still matters. Raw power can brute force any other method. With enough raw power, anything can be overcome.” His teacher drew a large circle on a blackboard and labeled it power.

“Second comes understanding, but you need not focus on such for now.” He drew a second circle within the first, labeling it understanding.

“Third comes tools. The right hammer for the right nail. The counter to a strength. The weapons of mankind. The weapons of gods, forged of materials that only appear once in a lifetime. The technology that rapidly develops, and it’s devastating potential. Even the body is a tool, able to be enhanced to withstand any force. And then there are the tools created by the powerful and given to the weak, such as that Sacred Gear bonded to your soul. The right tool can allow a much weaker user to overcome a much stronger foe.” A third smaller circle was drawn inside the first two and labeled tools.

“Fourth come skill. Physical, Mental, Magical. Everything that can be trained. Everything that can be taught.” A fourth smaller circle was drawn in the first three and labeled skill.

“And lastly, we have the areas that are difficult to quantify. Bloodlines. Racial abilities. Unique characteristics. These are area’s that tie into the other four, and yet are kept apart for how they only apply to a smaller percentage of the world.” A dot was drawn in the center of the four circles and labeled other.

Mr. Lupa pointed to each one. “Power, understanding, tools, skill, and other. These five areas define where each and every individual stands on the power ladder of the world. Enough raw power can overcome all the other four, but under that threshold, the other four can all individually trump one another.”

The old man looked down at his attentively listening student and chuckled. “I shall instruct you in all I can for skill. Through skill alone I struck fear into hearts around the world with the name of Lupa. As did my teacher before me. As did each active generation before her.” The old man’s cane pointed at the circle. “However, power cannot be overlooked. The more power we have, the higher the foe our blades can reach.”

Young Hei had raised his hand with a question and spoke when prompted. “But teacher, how do we train the aspect of power?”

“A good question. That is the main point of todays lecture.” The older man erased his circle diagram and drew the image of a balloon on the board. “To begin with, you must know how beings evolve to higher levels. Inside of us all is a core containing the pool of energy that is relevant to the race. Mana for humans, demonic energy for devils, holy energy for angels, so on and so forth.” The balloon was slowly colored in with chalk as he continued. “The goal of every being who wishes to grow, is to fill that balloon with energy. Say the maximum of our core is 100 units, and I only have 10 units of energy. If I were to cast a spell and spent my energy, I could wait, and my core would return to 10 units of energy over time. But doing such a thing will not push it beyond 10 units. No matter how much magic I cast, or how much I train or study, that limit will not change. So, the question becomes, how do we push the ceiling of our energy to fill out all 100 units? Any guess’s?”

Hei studied the diagram for a moment before answering. “External forces?”

Mr. Lupa’s eyes lit up in joy. “Correct. We stimulate our cores with outside forces. Any idea how?”

“Um…Devil have their contracts?” Hei shot in the dark and the old man nodded.

“Correct answer, but don’t hesitate. A stupid question is a stupid question only if you do not learn something you did not know before asking it.”

“Yes, teacher.”

“Mn. Now, Devils and their contracts.”

Mr. Lupa left the balloon alone for the moment and moved to the side to begin writing the names of different races on the board. “Every race is different in how they stimulate themselves. Every race has their own methods, secrets, biology, and so on, but the way each gathers power is quite well known.”

His cane pointed toward Devils. “Devils grow their demonic energy through contracts. When a contract is complete, their payment is in mana from humans, or whatever energy equivalent from the customer, and is converted into demonic energy through the contract formula. The converted energy pushes the limit of their energy inside their core, allowing them to grow stronger in power the more contracts they complete.”

“Then come their counterpart, the Angels.” The cane moved to point at the word. “Angels are flawed beings. Being made and created by the Christian God, they are unable to grow beyond what he made them to be. What power level they were created at, is how they stay. They take in energy from religious faith purified in heaven and transferred to them. The stronger their faith, the more abundant energy they have to pull from. And considering how rarely they fight; the whole world knows they have the potential to unleash a great deal of power if pushed.”

“Is that why they fall?”

“What do you mean, child?”

“Do angels fall because they want to grow beyond how they were made?”

The old man paused at the surprisingly deep question and pondered it. “Who is to say but a Fallen Angel? I can’t say I have much experience with them, so my knowledge is from what is known and written. Perhaps, you can ask one, one day.”

Hei nodded and mentally added a note for it as his teacher went on and moved his cane to the side.

“Fallen Angels, angels who committed sins banned by their maker, are stripped of their holy energy and connection to the source of wherever angels pull from. But in return, they do in fact gain the ability to grow while taking in corrupted energy, otherwise known as the energy of sin. They feed off it but likewise give in to it and end up stagnating.” The old wolf hummed in distaste. “Like the energy of faith, the energy of sin or corruption also exists. When strong sins are committed, it permeates the air with a sense of dread of negativity. Fallen Angels take in that corrupted energy, converting it like a broken machine trying to draw in the energy of faith, and filling their cores. However, corruption is a double sided blade, and as they try to absorb it, they must be strong enough of will to not give in to it. Giving in gives them a sense of ecstasy, but likewise loses the chance to push the limits of their cores. And as beings who fell for giving into sin, they are quite susceptible to its allure.”

Hei raised his hand again and asked a question. “I thought Devils were all about sin and corruption?”

“Ah, I’m glad you caught that.” Mr. Lupa chuckled and looked at his student pointedly. “Are you aware of where Devils originated?”

“Wasn’t it from Lucifer? And Lilith I think?”

“Once again, correct. Lilith was a demoness. And not just an average one, but a queen of demons. A race separate from devils, naturally growing through corruption because that is their nature. But Lucifer was one of the strongest of the Christian God’s creations, and his genes were strong. All the stories of how things happened are purely related to tales, but what we do know is that Lucifer fell, entered the underworld, found Lilith somehow, and together they created the first seventy two devils, direct descendants of Lucifer, beings half related to the Christian God and half of demonic essence. And as we know, when an angel falls, their core attempts to fill the void left from faith energy with sin energy, so the mix of the two powerful beings created something new. They created Devils.”

Mr. Lupa paused to let that settle before moving on. “Devils are unique for they have many benefits, but they are unique because just like angels, they cannot grow power naturally, if from the opposite side of a coin. Angels and Devils, both races stunted in the ability to grow their energy centers. All while Fallen Angels, the race between the two, could still grow, if at great risk to themselves. But while Angels got stuck while having to stick to their rules, the Devils developed their special contracts to get around their block.”

“How did they develop those contracts?”

“Who knows? According to records, it simply was developed. It was never stated how or when.”

“What do you think happened?”

“What do I think?” The old man hummed aloud. “There is no proof for it, but I can only imagine Lucifer had something to do with it. As the forefather of Devil-kind, I would imagine he had figured it out and passed it down to his children. It would explain why Devils today are unable to alter their contracts.”

Hei’s interest spiked at the last line. “What do you mean they can’t?”

“Hm?” The old man looked up as if he just realized Hei didn’t know something. “Ah, forgive me. It’s quite common knowledge but while devils can utilize the spell formation for their contractual magic, they are unable to actually change the formula itself. Meaning while they can set the parameters or settings, there are certain rules enforced upon them all. Devils have made a ruckus for millennia complaining about it. That’s why everyone knows.”

“Rules like what?”

“Rules like equivalent exchange. Both parties must agree to a price. Or how they cannot force anyone into a contract, as it must be entered willingly of clear mind. Devils are masters of word games because they had to become so. The contract is their lifeline to climbing the power ladder.”

“But that’s only for raw power right? They can still grow skills, use tools, or their bloodlines right?”

“Absolutely. Even a two winged devil could have spent centuries training in the sword, or be capable of using magic in a way that will be a great threat. But then again, long lived species tend to have issues with mental discipline, so take it by a case by case scenario if you meet a devil.”

“But teacher, what about Devil Peerages?”

“Ah, you know of them then?”

“Mn. The chess sets.”

“Yes, those vile things.” Mr. Lupa gave him a hard look. “Don’t insult the name of our legacy by selling your soul. Even the Lupa’s who chose the life of a craftsman didn’t cross that line. It would dishonor us all.”

Hei didn’t need the motivation to agree. “No worries old man, I never intended to.”

The old wolf studied him for a moment before grunting. “Good. Those chess sets provide great power, but they are simply another form of contractual magic. By accepting a piece............

[End of the first part - The rest is coming soon.]