Target 3: Motivation.

Gokudera Hayato P.O.V

I woke up as the sunlight irradiated my face. I stretched my arms to cease the weird feeling in them. "Now I understand why Hibari and Gokudera(not me) liked to sleep that much."

Although I didn't do much yesterday. The mental fatigue after spending centuries(probably) in that place and being in a real body took a toll on me. But with that night of sleep a lot of that baggage that I was carrying felt like it was not there anymore. 

I looked at the clock on the nightstand to see that it was just 6:00 in the morning, so I decided to start the day.

Standing out of my bed, I stretched my whole body. I did notice this yesterday but this new body's many times more flexible than my previous one was. Raising my left the height of my head I could see that I had the flexibility of if not better than a gymnastic. "Sometimes life is not fair." Mainly I am talking from my perspective before coming to this world as the flexibility I had, needed to be trained for most men for many years and I could do it just because I drank some sports drink flavored essence, but again, I did spend many years in something like purgatory so…. I do not feel bad at all, luck is also an important factor in life. 

I went down to the kitchen to prepare some breakfast before heading out. Even if I checked the house yesterday and it is very nice, it is quite big. It's not like a damn mansion or some shit like that, but it has many rooms for some who live alone like me, it even has a basement, something rare here in Japan. I mean it's quite nice of Agent K and Agent J to give nice things even when I would be happy with just not having to live on the streets.

But it kinda makes sense since my "father" inherited the house from his parents that already passed away and after getting married they wanted a big family, but the couple could only have one son, A.K.A me but later moved to Italy because both of them found some lucrative jobs there. Even the personality of the previous "me" was somewhat similar to how I used to behave, in other words, a waste of oxygen but different from me, he had excellent grades…they just gave me Gokudera Hayato's story with extra steps…lazy asses. 

I do not know what to think about this. At first, I thought that they just created the whole family just to create a body for me and they just got rid of the parents to not make any weird situations or maybe my reluctance to have another family. But I discarded the thought almost immediately taking into consideration that they gave me "gifts" when they could just send me to the afterlife or "reincarnate" me without any explanation to another world. So at the very least, they can't meddle with "lower beings" that easily or have some kind of code/rule that they follow, so just killing people to facilitate my livelihood would be redundant. 

Maybe they did some reality manipulation shit to create the whole background and not leave any "plot holes" about me, and they did not exist to begin with. Or my "parents" were a couple that did not have children and just inserted me in this whole "story" family so I inherited their material possessions and did not have to take someone else's body or have to grow up from the beginning. That is at least my theory, but who knows what is the truth. 

Either way, I am quite comfortable with the situation. I was practically living alone before dying and I do not have to worry that much about my financial situation to pay for the services and the taxes since they are directly deducted from my bank account which has a pretty good amount of money that should last for a couple of years if I do not buy extravagant things. Maybe I could use the rooms for some kind of hobby in the future? 

The only thing that weirds me out is that there are a lot of books and magazines about supernatural things. I know that the other Gokudera Hayato was a firm believer in U.M.A's (Unidentified Mysterious Animals) so maybe Agent K or Agent J got those as some way of pulling my leg. Either way, I may read them in my free time since it seems that the Anime industry is pretty shitty if Drag-So Ball is some sort of example ... .What is next called Bleach, Peroxide? Blench?

Fuck…..I think that I red-flagged myself…well whatever. Leaving the unnecessary thoughts I went to the kitchen and prepared something simple to eat and a little bit more for lunch. Yesterday besides the things I wanted to experiment with refinement, I also purchased food. Having the feeling of hunger once again was weird from my perspective. 

"Itadakimasu." Giving my thanks, I started to eat the fine grain that is rice. Honestly, I missed this taste for a long time. Even if it is a stapler it is THE stapler. Now I can relate with the isekai protagonist who missed Japonica rice so much, when I was outside the country it was a hassle to find but not impossible. But in "that" place even if I didn't feel hungry in all that time, I was still craving for some tasty food. 

"Maybe I should refine some ingredients for the future…well even if I start now it will be just a waste." Leaving aside the fact that I am an amateur at this, my cooking skills are just average. "But maybe in the future, I can refine something to the point that it becomes something crazy like the Chakra Fruit, the fruit of the divine three, or the super strength soba noodles."

Refinement is much of a cheat when I get its full potential unlocked, but for the morning I have other plans of training. 

…..

Abandoned Factory 

"I really need to work in the Boxes." I was looking around the factory and saw some things that could become useful after some rounds of refinement, but I do not want to leave them in this place. "Ironically I need some things before being able to do a simple one." 

The concept of the Box Weapons was created around the 1600s in the world of Katekyo Hitman Reborn by the biologist Geppetto Lorenzini to create weapons from nature inspired by animals and weapons. And at the end of his research, he ended up creating 343 blueprints of those weapons.

However, like it happened with Leonardo DaVinci, he was way ahead of his time, and with the technology available at the time it was impossible to bring the theory to an actual product. Until Koenig, Innocenti, and Verde re-discovered his research and after years of investigation and a lot of investment they were able to create the first Weapon Boxes. 

But thanks to the essence I have that knowledge I know everything about how to create them and to my luck I did not need something that was unattainable in this world. However, the facilities needed for creating strong boxes were…out of my reach at the moment. 

But with Essence of Refinement, it would take me at most a couple of months before preparing everything needed. The question should be what Animal Box would be more fitting to me. 

"Anyways, that is something to decide when I already have a way to create them, I need to test the flames before anything." 

Having multiple Dying Will Flames, the first option should be an easy one, The Sky Flame. And no, it's not because of some retarded way of thinking that I am a Shonen Protagonist…well technically, I am but that's not the fucking reason.

If I had to choose only one of the Dying Will Flame my choice would be another one, but that is not my case. I have access to all of them. There are many possible combinations between them, so the MVP for this would be the Sky Flame which owns the characteristic of Harmony. This was the case with the Rage Flame and Oath Flame, they are a combination of the Sky Flame and Storm Flame and the Sky Flame and Earth Flame respectively.

There have been instances where the flames have been used in conjunction with each other. Like the other Gokudera Hayato with the Sistema C.A.I. that used other 4 flames along with the Storm Flame to have other "effects" on his shots. Or Daemon Spade that used the Desert Flame to enhance his Real Illusions made with the Mist Flame. 

But in the end, it was not a true fusion, just an addition, it cannot bring the full potential of that combination. Or at least that is what my "intuition" is telling me, this was a subject that I sometimes discussed in some forums on the internet with other fans of the manga, but there is no definitive proof about it. 

Besides I lose nothing starting with this one if I am wrong, since I could at least use the Rage Flame and Oath Flame. 

With a little bit of concentration, my hands were engulfed in soft yellow-orange flames. When I first used them yesterday, I just used the minimum output since I was not stupid enough to play around with them in my house and become homeless on my first day here. 

"They really do justice to its name." I don't know if all the Sky Flame users feel the same, it's hard to describe the exact feeling but it would be as if, no matter what comes to me, I can take it. 

Throwing some punches to see the difference between my normal ones. Thanks to my improved control over my body, I can sense that there is an improvement in the strength behind them. But a test is needed for this. 

*Poow*

I punched the nearest wall to see that it cracked rather easily and there were some scorching marks in the place that I punched. Even if the building was old, it was not that old to crumble as if it was nothing. 

"Mmm, even if it is not the primary effect, it did enhance my strength…maybe around 10%." It actually is a pretty neat amount for the Soft-Flames without any specialized equipment and the efficiency in which I am using them not to mention that in their nature is to be dispersed instead of being concentrated. 

I emitted some flames and played a little bit with them. Even if they are the flames which are closer to being similar to actual fire, it is not exactly the same. I can't go full Fire Bender or something like that, but I have some degree of control over it. 

I decided to verify another thing about the Sky Flame. Clicking the metaphorical switch the flames in my hands changed. The core changed to a reddish-orange color while the edges had different shades of orange with particles like crystals appearing around all the flames. 

"Hot damn!" And I mean in a nonfigurative way. While I do not feel burned by the flames themselves, I can sense that the heat emanates from them. The energy is many times more condensed and powerful than before. 

Moving to another wall, this time knowing that I wouldn't break my bones by just punching the wall, I punched it as hard as I could with my fist covered with the Hard-Flames.

*CRASH* 

This time the wall looked like a spider web with the amount of cracks in the wall. The scorching marks on the wall this time however were more noticeable in comparison with the Soft-Flames, there were even some embers in the wall. 

"*Phewit* Nice." To be honest is more than I expected from a punch without precise control over the flames and without a ring. "Now let's move on to the next phase." 

It would not be that weird if I went around with just a Bokken since there are many practitioners of Iaido and Kendo around the town, however, I have many with me and if everything goes according to my plan, I will not only a good practice weapon but a real weapon. So I had to recur to one of the most cliche things in the Anime Industry…Carry them in a guitar case. 

I cringed over this before accepting my destiny…at least until I could create a Weapon Box or use the Flame Night to warp myself directly to this place. 

I took one of the Bokken as well as materialized the Ring of the Sky on my left hand. I ignited the flames of the Sky in my right hand. This time, however, my control over them was many times better than before. 

Using this better control, I imbued the Bokken with Soft-Flames. In the manga, for the most part, the weapons needed to have some kind of compatibility/propriety with the flames. But that is not always the case. Yamamoto and Hibari could imbue their weapons with Flames even if they were not made of something specialized for Dying Will Flames. 

I swung the Bokken a couple of times to get the feeling with them. Even in my previous life I never used a weapon even if I was a "delinquent", for most of my fights I just used my body or my metal bat. 

But having the Essence of Combat Prodigy gave me some kind of passive insight about the weapons. Not to the point of becoming a goddamn expert with them, but having an odd feeling that I was doing something wrong. If I was holding the Bokken with the wrong grip, if the slashes were messy even if I was putting much strength behind them, 

Gladly it is not as if I had a voice whispering behind my mind how to do things, it is just the feeling of it. If I set myself to replicate one technique or style, I think that I would have a similar feeling. 

After some practice swings, I noticed that I was getting a little bit better but another thing. "As I thought there is too much waste of energy and if I try to charge more like it happened with Hibari and the low-quality rings, it will just break." 

Although I said that it was not fundamentally necessary, it is obvious that there are materials that have better conductivity for some kind of energy even in the normal world. In Naruto, they could apple Chakra over the regular Kunai's but there was Chakra Metal that had a better conductivity used in Swords and Azuma's blades. 

Even with the concept of Harmony, the flames still produce heat that sooner or later will destroy the Bokken. 

I changed my ring once again and pressed the metaphorical switch. The flames that I was emitting changed their color and form. Instead of looking like actual flames, hundreds of green leaves were scattered in the wind, but after reaching a certain distance they disappeared. 

The Forest Flame. One of the seven Dying Will Flames of the Earth, with the characteristic of Realization. Aoba Kouyou, the first shown user of this flame in the manga, used it for controlling the vegetation in his surroundings as a weapon as well as using the leaves as little sharp blades, more or less like Senbonzakura. 

This time, the burden in the Bokken was less since it was more attuned since it was made of wood.

I moved forward to slash one of the hanging chains that were around and without an issue the Bokken cut through the chains.

*Clank* 

The part of the chain that I just slashed dropped into the ground, letting an eco around the abandoned factory. 

"Wow." In all regards with all the shit that happened to me, I shouldn't be surprised by just cutting a rusty steel chain, however….

A smile of joy creeped out of my face. 

Every man no matter how old they are, at least once in his life dreamed of becoming a swordsman. With all the cool swordsmen in Anime, Manga, Games, Cartoons, Novels, etc it is meant to happen.

Himura Kenshin

Roronoa Zoro

Guts 

Afro Samurai 

Samurai Jack

Yamamoto Takeshi

Squalo Superbia

Yamamoto-Genryūsai Shigekuni

Vergil Sparda…

The latter being my favorite character in games of all time. Not because he has a cool character design or because he is badass

No, it is his dedication. Even if it was not shown in the games, the skill he got in Iaidō is not something that usually one wakes up and knows about how to do it. It requires time and dedication to the art, even if you are talented. And taking the degree that Vergil took, shows how dedicated he is. 

His strong will, even if he has a messed up view of the world, after all the shit that happened to him, is no surprise that his view of the world is twisted. However, his will allowed him to continue forward and stay true to his guns in his power search, something that I can relate to a degree. 

I was toyed with by some random "god" because he wanted to use me to abide by his wishes. My life was literally stolen by someone else wimps. I was alone without a way to help myself until Agent K and Agent J took me away from that place. I will never forget one particular quote of Vergil, mostly because I literally can't, but it fits my situation,

""Foolishness, Dante. Foolishness. Might controls everything. And without strength, you can not protect anything. Let alone yourself."

Sure there are other types of strengths beyond raw power. Tomodachi(Friend) manipulated the whole world to reach the highest position in his world, however, even a simple knife could kill him. Not to mention some fuck up god with Reality Manipulation. 

There are instances like with Aizen-sama that he not only had raw power, but his genius intellect among his masterful skill at manipulation helped him to almost reach his goal. Which he might have accomplished if his ego and search for a worthy opponent led him to his downfall. 

None of them are role models to follow, mainly because I do not want to become a power-seeking monster. But there is one thing that all of them have that is necessary. 

An obsession. 

It was something that helped me to not become an empty husk before Agent K and Agent J saved me. Something that drives you to move forward, no matter how little is the possibility of success. 

In my case, a promise. 

But now, is that and wanting enough power to not be a puppet for anyone. 

I concentrated the Forest Flames on my left index and passed it through where the "edge" of the Bokken is. This Bokken looks similar to what an actual Katana looks like, but it is made out of wood and is meant to be used to practice Iaidō, it even has its own Saya(Scabbard). 

But as one would expect, the bokken is not sharp at all as it was meant to be used for practice. Even if the Essence of Refinement is strong, it can't refine something that there is not in the object. However with the help of the Forest Flame…

 I swung the bokken to the part of the chains that were still hanging and while it did not cut through the whole chain but there was a chirp on the chain. "Just according to the plan."

Aoba could make any vegetation become sharp in the manga, and since the bokken is made of wood it is obvious that it could do something like this. "I heard that there are wooden knives 3 times sharper than steel ones, but still it is surprising to see something like this." 

Moreover, with the Essence of Refinement, I can sense what I can refine about a particular object that I am touching. As it was obvious from the examples the Essence gave me, there are two types of Refinement. One that overall refines the target as a whole, using games as a metaphor it would be like adding one stat point towards all stats at the same time once the stage of refinement was completed. While the specific refinement will settle in one particular stat increasing it by 3. 

So in the case of the bokken, now I can focus on its sharpness and since it was exposed to the Dying Will Flames, I can refine its capacity to handle the flames, which is one of the reasons that I was not concerned about not having the necessary materials for the creations of the Box Weapon. 

"Now I am a little motivated." I could not help but whisper those words after all the internal monologue. 

I shetted the Katana in the Saya to start the training once more. As well as changing the ring once more to the Sky Ring and igniting the Sky Flames.

….

Hallo Niece and Nephew, it is Uncle Author and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. 

So basically it is the start of the training of the MC. I know that the main cast was able to do some good things from the beginning of the Future Arc, where most of the cast was able to use the Dying Will Flames with an extreme degree of proficiency, and let's not talk about the Simon Famiglia in the Inheritance Ceremony Arc and how "well" they were able to use the Dying Will Flames of the Earth in a short amount of time. 

But I have to make things interesting hahaha so I want to make a gradual improvement and not just stomp the DXD verse thanks to the Essence. He will make progress with the obsession that he was talking about, however at the moment even with the obsession he still doesn't have a challenge. 

By the way, just to be perfectly clear, Hayato will not be a copy of Vergil. Even if he pointed out some similarities, they are very generic in fiction, but since he was talking about swordsmanship Vergil was meant to appear. Besides, the personality and behavior that I am planning for him don't match with Vergil's. If anything I would say that he is more fit with Nero or Dante if we talk about Devil May Cry, or the OC Hayato or Squalo, So he will take inspiration from him for some techniques, but he will also take inspiration from other users of Iaidō and Battōjutsu. I already have a manipulative MC, so I want to write someone more straightforward without being a dumb-shit hahaha. 

Btw, I mention the bat quite a lot…do not forget about it, it is not comedy relief. Also while his main interest is using a sword(Katana), from his previous life he was skilled in hand-to-hand combat, so wait for it. 

As for the Sky Flame, it will be his main study since I have some ideas for the future to create new kinds of flames or combinations. He will also use the other ones and I want to explore the uses of some of the Earth Flames since it was stated that many of its users were either simple-minded or just plain dumb to use them to their full potential. Also, there is one that was never mentioned, so I will have to get creative with that one hahaha.

In the next chapter, there will be something special hehe, so stay tuned for it. 

So with anything else to say, thank you for reading this chapter.

If you liked the first chapter please add it to your library so you can receive the notifications when a chapter is out. Also leave a comment, with your opinion about the chapter, it will help me a lot. Maybe a review but I won't be greedy since it's just the beginning hahaha

See you again, in the next chapter. 

Uncle out *drops the mic*