0002 - Cultivate in Kuoh

Slurp~ 

It's six in the morning, the sun has just risen, and is slowly ascending. 

Haruka is sitting on the balcony of his apartment, enjoying a cup of ramen. Around him, there are many formation techniques shaped like holographic screens displaying images at high speed.

'Hmm hmm hmm, it tastes so good. When was the last time I had food this delicious? This is the best!'

While savoring his food, Haruka doesn't forget to continue gathering information about the world he is reincarnated into. He sets up barriers around his apartment, not only to avoid detection by other cultivators if there are any, but also to help bear the load of using formation techniques so that his body doesn't experience too much soul pressure.

Haruka starts scanning the city, even up to the entire Japan, while avoiding barriers set by others. 

He's quite surprised by the variety of races here; there are even wild animals that have acquired intelligence despite having low realms. 

The power system here seems different; individuals don't need to cultivate by manually absorbing energy to become stronger. Instead, through training and daily activities, energy is automatically absorbed by someone.

He also finds many figures referred to as gods, but not all of them seem powerful enough according to Haruka to deserve that title. And as a tentative conclusion from scanning the entire city, most humans are unaware of the existence of mystical beings, even though gods are closer than they think.

'Hmm, I can't use a wider scanning formation than this. The burden on the mortal body to use my current formation technique is too great.'

Haruka quickly finishes his ramen and precisely throws the bowl into the trash. He stands up to stretch.

'Spiritual cultivation and Body refinement from the beginning again? I'm a little excited! I can build a more solid cultivation foundation than before.'

Haruka sets up another formation to divert attention from others. Similar to a see-through formation, but this one affects the consciousness of others more than the user. He then jumps from the fourth floor and lands gracefully on the sidewalk in front of his apartment.

'Let's head to the Aura Initiation realm for body refinement first. Fabricatio Gravitasi!'

A formation circle appears above Haruka's head. He stumbles forward a bit but doesn't fall.

'Ugh, I think it's heavy enough.'

Using his formation technique, Haruka makes his body twice as heavy.

'Rapid Regen.'

And with another formation appearing on his chest, it accelerates the healing of damaged tissues due to the increased load on his body.

The cultivation technique Haruka is using is a simple yet brutal method that continuously damages and heals the body's tissues through extreme training. However, if done maximally, the foundation of Haruka's body refinement cultivation will be very strong.

"I haven't felt this sensation in a long time" 

Not many can use this technique. It's because of the pain felt by cultivators, as if their whole body is being stabbed with knives, and they have to endure that pain while doing other activities to optimize the results. If Haruka were still a novice cultivator, he might not last long with this technique. Of course, he has experienced techniques more painful than the one he's using now.

'Let's take a stroll around the city while training.'

Haruka starts jogging around the city. Not without purpose, he looks for places with a high concentration of spiritual energy to speed up his spiritual cultivation process. Although there are many places in Kuoh City with high spiritual energy, most are used by devilkin and angelkin.

He also briefly stops at a place with a dense aura, even merging with a small spring. Haruka feels tempted to enter and absorb the aura energy, but he doesn't want to introduce external energy into his body yet.

Haruka wants to have a flawless foundation so that he can have a body capable of using techniques stronger than his previous one. To achieve this, he needs a pure cultivation core. At least for one or two realms of body refinement in the future, he shouldn't receive assistance from external aura energy. Unknowingly, he has circled Kuoh City until the sun is about to set.

Haruka stops by a convenience store to buy a drink and some snacks.

'Everything in this world seems to prioritize practical things.'

He takes out an onigiri he just bought.

'Even food and drinks can be quickly served in the condition we want. If I can return to the heavenly realm once again, I will open a fast-food shop like this. And this drink...'

Haruka takes a sip from a bottle of cold lemon honey ramune.

'Kuuuh, it's gooood! What kind of genius came up with the idea of combining gas and drink into one?Add to that various flavors that can be added to it. Imagine Thousand Year Heaven Dew liquor mixed with this soda. Damn, now I want an alcoholic drink, but this country has age restrictions to buy it. Well, I just have to wait a few more years.'

After finishing his food and drink, Haruka places the ramune bottle in the recycling bin. He then continues his journey back to his apartment.

The sky is already dark at eight in the evening.

'Hmm..?'

Haruka senses someone releasing negative spiritual energy near his location. He looks towards an abandoned warehouse.

Haruka's eyes emit a faint white light as he uses his soul-seeing technique, allowing him to see through all physical objects and gain vision inside the warehouse. A woman is being bound by tentacles controlled by a devilkin. The devilkin has a humanoid head with black eyes and pointed ears, while its body resembles a collection of long and irregular tentacles.

The woman, bound and with her mouth covered by a tentacle, can only struggle slightly as the devilkin licks her neck. Tears can be seen flowing down her resigned face.

Haruka, witnessing this scene, reveals a sadistic smile.

"Heee, there's a suitable sandbag to test the results of today's body refinement."

Haruka does some stretching before casually walking towards the abandoned warehouse.

…

Inside the dark abandoned warehouse.

Sniff~

"Hmmhmmhmm... truly a delightful aroma. Virgin girls indeed have an extraordinary fragrance. Their taste has always been my favorite since the first time I tried it."

The devilkin, a monstrous devil that betrayed its master and became a Stray devil, was indulging in its prey. Stray devils are rogue devils that engage in many crazy activities, often causing chaos.

"Mmmmmm..."

The captured woman could only whimper softly.

"Hohohoho, it seems like you can't wait to become my meal. In that case, I won't hesitate."

"HMNNNonnn..."

The woman couldn't bear it any longer and lost consciousness. As the Stray Devil began submerging the woman into its tentacles, a sound echoed, making the Stray Devil's body shudder.

"Stop!"

The Stray Devil halted its movements, becoming rigid. It then tried to turn towards the source of the voice, its movements jerky as if its body was restrained by something.

At the entrance of the dark warehouse, a silhouette of a dark-haired man was visible due to the direction of the light. He walked in casually with both hands behind his back.

"WHO—"

"SILENCE!"

The Stray Devil that tried to speak suddenly couldn't, as if its voice was stopped in its mouth.

Haruka approached slowly. His right hand reflexively moved as if he wanted to stroke his nonexistent beard, ending up on his chin.

"Hmm, what kind of weird creature is this? Your soul seems unstable. My Power Word can easily influence your soul."

Haruka, still using his soul-seeing technique, began scanning the Stray Devil in front of him.

"A corrupted soul. What is this... a chess piece?"

He saw a chess piece within the soul of the Stray Devil in front of him. The piece continued to supply the Stray Devil with demonic power, turning it into a devilkin.

"This type of negative energy is quite strong in lower realms. Interesting, but I'm not interested enough in trivial matters like this."

Haruka then thrust his hand into the tentacle creature's body. His hand entered the Stray Devil's body and took something. When he withdrew his hand, the Stray Devil fell like a puppet that had lost its strings.

"I changed my mind; you're too weak to be a punching bag."

"I can easily take your soul core like this"

Looking at the black chess piece shrouded in a dense dark aura in his hand, Haruka could only shake his head. He squeezed the piece hard until it shattered, and its aura disappeared.

Simultaneously, the Stray Devil's body melted into black ashes and disappeared.

"Boring. I'd better go home and reinforce the security formations before sleeping."

…

Not long after Haruka left.

"Is this really the place?"

A sexy girl with red hair and a pair of black wings landed in front of the abandoned warehouse. She appeared to be wearing a school uniform with a short skirt.

"Yes, the energy signal we received came from here."

Behind her, another sexy girl with larger breasts and reddish-black hair landed elegantly.

They entered the warehouse and found a woman who had fainted. Beside the woman were fragments of an Evil Piece, which surprised both girls.

"This is indeed an Evil Piece. Someone managed to take it from a Stray Devil."

The red-haired sexy girl picked up the Evil Piece fragment and stored it.

"Should we report this to your Brother, Rias?"

"Not yet, Akeno. I have to show that I can handle issues in Kuoh."

Akeno, the black-haired girl, could only show a slightly worried expression.

"Yesterday, a powerful energy explosion occurred on the outskirts of the city, and now the same residual energy is detected here. Someone has infiltrated our territory without my knowledge. I need to find out who it is."

Akeno became more concerned, seeing Rias's serious expression, seemingly determined to handle this issue on her own.