16 The Test

*Chirp* *Chirp* 

Hearing the loud chirping of the birds and the morning sunlight hitting her face through the window, Aika woke up feeling a little tired despite the night's rest.

Putting on her slippers, she quickly walked down to the bathroom. 

After all, having to pee right after waking up wasn't just a guy thing.

Walking out of the bathroom, she took a breath of relief.

"Ah, that felt good." 

Smiling at the sourness her body felt, she knew she had a good time.

But as she thought about the previous day, she froze –before quickly rushing around the house.

"Where is he!"

After that session they had and seeing Aika so tired, Kento decided to stay the night with her.

But her worry was unnecessary as she heard a sizzling noise from the kitchen. Rushing towards it, she took a sigh of relief when she saw the boy making breakfast.

Seeing the huffing Aika, Kento chuckled before wishing her good morning.

"Good Morning, Aika." He said. "What's with the early morning rush?"

"I… I thought you left."

This made Kento raise an eyebrow. "Why would I leave? I am not a guy that does not take responsibility."

That was a big fat lie. He was anything but a person that took responsibility.

Aika smiled. "I know. I am sorry, I was just a bit worried."

He shook his head. "Don't be. And are you hungry? I made something for you."

She nodded strongly. "Extremely hungry. And what is that? It smells good."

Kento's smile grew bigger at the question. "Glad you asked, because what I made is one of my favorite breakfasts."

Aika's anticipation grew at his statement.

"It is called Shakshuka, a delicious dish made of a spicy tomato sauce with peppers and onion as base and poached eggs cooked directly in it. To make it taste even better, I added a bit of cheese and a little bit of parsley."

Aika was quite surprised by his words. "That's… Impressive. Where did you learn it? It is not a Japanese dish."

"It is not a Japanese dish. " Kento agreed. "It is a dish with a North African origin and currently very famous in middle eastern countries like Israel."

"Oh." Aika was very impressed.

"As for where I learnt this… I always loved cooking, and have been cooking since my childhood. So, I learnt it along the way."

And it wasn't a lie. As Elijah, he learnt to cook for himself and found a sense of comfort in the art of cooking.

"You are good at almost everything, aren't you?" Aika asked.

"I try." Kento said. "Here, give it a try."

Aika liked the redness of the dish, the tomato doing wonders and the smell was straight heavenly.

Putting a spoonful in her mouth, she was blown away by the flavor.

"It-It is amazing!" 

Kento laughed. "There's some pita, try it with that."

Smiling brightly, she said. "Sure!"

…

…

Kento made it clear that despite what they did, Kento couldn't start a relationship with her. He explained that he liked her, he really did but he wasn't sure about relationships and that he was afraid of hurting her by being a bad partner.

Surprisingly, she agreed. She said that she was the one that came onto him and thus it was not his responsibility to feel guilty.

"But let's see if this thing works out." Aika said hopefully. "We… work out."

Kento smiled and ruffled her hair –that she ever so carefully braided. 

She was wearing a bit of makeup and while Kento said she looked good even without it, Aika still wanted to wear it.

Realizing that she was trying her best to appear confident, Kento did not stop her.

"Let's see what fate has in store for us."

This made Aika happy, as Kento did not reject her. Instead said that it might work in the future.

She did not care about the possibility of the relationship not working out, she just wanted to be positive for the time being.

But as they reached the Academy gates, they saw Sona and Koneko waiting at the university.

"That is Koneko Toujou, right?" Aika was surprised. "She is the mascot of Kuoh. Basically, all the sports clubs worship her."

"Is it?" Kento asked, not realizing how much of an influence Koneko had over the clubs.

"And that is Souna."

Aika stared at Kento. "I did not know you were on a first name basis with the student council president…"

She was not jealous, rather shocked at how causally he used Souna's name.

Souna was famous for being strict with the rules and many feared her because of the authority she possessed, however the boy that she fell for was casually waving at the girls.

She was partially blank for the entirety of the previous day's talks. She remembered that Souna offered her a new uniform, but she didn't talk much.

"Good morning, Souna." Kento greeted. "Good morning, Koneko."

The girls nodded. "I hope you are feeling better now, Aika." 

Aika smiled. "I feel better. And thank you for yesterday. I will wash the uniform and return it soon."

Sona shook her head. "No, you can keep it. It is on me, besides it was my negligence that led to such an incident."

"That is not true." Aika denied.

"So, what happened to the perpetrators?" Kento asked. 

"The one that threw water and tried to cut Aika's hair has been expelled alongside the girls that caused any form to physical harm to Aika. As for the ones that were verbally causing her pain… They've been suspended for an entire month and they will be losing… Let's say a significant amount of marks in the upcoming exams." She announced as she fixed her glasses.

"I knew that I could count on you." Kento said, quite happy at how Sona handled the situation.

"Isn't… That a bit too much?" Aika asked, feeling a bit bad for the girls.

"No." Kento and Sona said simultaneously.

Sona then turned towards Kento. "And we have a few things regarding the club to talk about Kento."

"And there is also something that I have to talk about." The petite girl finally spoke. "And it is quite a bit urgent."

Aika looked at Kento. "Then I will go on ahead. You can come later."

Kento nodded. "Alright, take care though. And if someone tries anything funny again, just call me or Souna."

"Alright." Aika was happy to have someone care so much about her. 'I can get used to this feeling.'

Keeping her bright smile, she walked towards class leaving the trio on their own.

"She seems happy." Sona commented.

"She is." Kento sighed, relieved that she finally could act and work normally.

"Are you two…" Sona wondered, but Kento shot down her thought.

"We are not dating. But she is someone close to me."

Sona wondered what he meant, but realizing how complex emotions could be, she didn't say anything.

"So, Koneko. What was it that you wanted to talk about?"

His question made the petite girl look at Sona. 

"She will tell you about it."

"Pardon?" Kento was confused. 

"You remember that you said you will join the Student Council, right?" Sona asked, at which Kento nodded. "One of the reasons why I asked you to join us… Was to be able to keep you under observation."

Kento realized this way earlier, but since it would prevent them from spying onto him wherever he went –he decided it was not too bad of a trade.

"I do." He said.

"So, a major reason I wanted you in our clubs was also to protect you. But it is not possible to keep guarding you twenty four hours a day."

Koneko finished the sentence for Sona. "So, both Rias and Sona wanted you to show us what you are capable of."

"You don't have to show us all your tricks." Sona frowned. "Which I would have preferred, but since it is not our place to pry into your life, you just have to show us that you can defend yourself. This way, we won't have to monitor you all the time and you will be able to live life normally."

"That's a nice way to say that looking after me is bothersome." Kento chuckled. "But I don't mind. How do I do this?"

Both Sona and Koneko were surprised at how easily Kento agreed. But the reason he agreed was to test out his new abilities and since he found a perfect place to test it out, it made it better for him to gather experience.

"You… agreed more easily than I anticipated." 

Kento shrugged at Sona's statement. "So, what do you want me to do?"

At the question, Koneko stared at Kento. "Fight me."

Kento froze. 

"Pardon?"

<<Plunder Quest Alert!>> 

<<Defeat the opponent!

Koneko Toujou: 0/1>> 

<<Rewards: Points ×100, [Splash Potion of Poison (B) ×5]>> 

…

…

When they asked him to show what he was worth, he expected a display of his skills.

Never in his wildest dreams did he expect to have to fight a girl that was half his height as well as younger than him.

In all honesty, he had no intention of fighting her. He found her extremely cute and thought it would be rather unethical to fight a younger girl.

"Don't worry." Koneko said. "I won't use my full power."

He knew why she said that. 

And the reason why he did not want to fight her was not just because he thought it would be disrespectful. 

But because he knew she would break his bones.

{Inspect}

<<Name: Koneko Toujou 

Skills: Demonic Power (C), Senjutsu (A-), Touki (B), Healing (B), Bouchujutsu (B+), Kasha (C), Sealing (C), Youjutsu (B-), Superhuman Physique (A), Demonic Strength (B+), Transformation (B+), Enhanced Senses (A), Flight (B), Hand-to-hand Combat (A)>> 

'Just how do you deal with that?' But wondered, but remembered that he had points on him.

'Put forty points in strength, thirty in agility and thirty in intelligence.'

<STR: 80> 

<AGI: 70> 

<INT: 50>

Even after adding so many points in strength and agility, he knew that he had nowhere near enough strength to take on her monstrous strength.

"The facility is designed to be able to hold battles from high class and above devils, so do not worry about damages." Sona said. "And any injury will be healed by the healers and potions. So, do not worry. However, try not to cause any serious injury."

She said the last sentence while looking at Koneko. The white-haired girl nodded, getting in a stance that was kung-fu based.

"On the count of three." Sona said as both got ready to attack. "One."

"I'll refrain from exerting too much demonic power." Koneko said. 

It was not an insult but rather a worry that she might hurt him if she used all her skills.

"Two."

Kento understood her worry as while he couldn't see her stats, he knew that she was strong.

But he had no intention of losing.

"Three."

The moment the countdown hit three, Koneko lunged at him with her fists –ready to smash a few bones. 

However, thanks to him putting points in agility, he was able to dodge it.

But as she followed up with a roundhouse kick, he had no choice to activate his skills.

{Horo-Kanu}

The kick was stopped by an immediate chop to the ankle, surprising both Koneko and Sona.

Taking immediate benefit from it, Kento used another one of his skills.

{Water Manipulation}

Creating a small puddle of water immediately under Koneko, he was able to mess up her posture –which gave him an advantage to go straight to the offensive.

Using {Horo-Kanu}, which allowed him to target the opponent's pressure points –Kento swoop in a kick that hit Koneko's leg.

"Ugh!"

Thinking that Kento did not have any proper fighting skills and would use water based skills like Akeno explained, she was more than prepared for a spell theme battle from his side. 

This made her not use her defensive abilities, causing a clean hit on her leg.

But from Kento's side, it was not just a simple hit on the leg.

He managed to hit her sciatic nerve, sending a form of sciatic pain throughout her entire body.

But thanks to her healing abilities, she was quickly able to get back to a proper stance.

'This won't be easy…' Kento figured, seeing how easily Koneko got back to fighting.

However, the girl that was usually always silent decided to speak.

"The strength that you exerted was not something that a normal human can exert. If that hit landed on a normal human, they would have fainted immediately." She frowned. "Just how many skills are you hiding?"

Sona felt the same, as she analyzed the scene from afar. 'I don't remember any Sacred Gear capable of providing so many skills and abilities to their user… This is either a totally unseen gear or it is not a gear at all.'

Kento smirked. "I didn't know I could do this either."

He was amazed by how strong an `A+` grade skill was. Despite the difference in their physical strength, he was able to land a painful hit on her.

Without the skill, such a kick would have felt like getting hit by a balloon for her.

He could only wonder what this skill would be capable of once he had more points in strength and agility.

Realizing that her normal strength was not enough, she decided to use her demonic strength and fully exert the abilities of her superhuman physique.

"Forgive me for not being serious." Koneko said. "I will use my abilities properly from now on. At least, on the level of those fallens."

'He can easily survive against the fallen foot soldiers, and if he manages to go on par with Koneko when she finally decided to use her abilities, it might not be wrong to consider him to have greater potential than most the people I have seen.' Sona contemplated. 'If only he had agreed to join me.'

Finally, Kento could sense the massive power that Koneko possessed. This got him on the defensive. He realized that Koneko was finally using her demonic power.

Kento rushed at her with {Horo-Kanu} but thanks to her enhanced senses and strength, she was easily able to block and dodge his strikes.

The skill allowed Kento to figure out all the pressure points of his opponents, but without Koneko giving him an opening or without being able to outspeed her –he could not hit those points.

Kento was not going to use his light based skill as it was a plundered skill and using it in here would raise a lot of questions.

Especially, when he learnt that it was the speciality of fallens.

Or those affiliated with the church.

Kento was left with no choice but to use his other major combos.

Flying up with his {Flight} skill, Kento summoned a bunch of arrows made of water.

The {Water Manipulation} was still one of his weakest spells, but it also one of the most versatile ones.

'That…' Sona was shocked. 'Akeno did say that he could use water skills, but this is… quite a lot.'

For someone that just awakened his powers, Sona was amazed at seeing him able to summon so many arrows with such ease.

Koneko was no different.

Seeing him using so many arrows, she knew it was too late to use her wings.

'I have to block them.' She frowned.

{Blindshot}

In an instant, the arrows shot at Koneko.

Koneko's eyes widened when she saw every single arrow shooting towards her.

'How is the aim so perfect!' She was astonished but knew that she had to stop the arrows.

She had no choice but to use her enhanced senses to their full extent, and increase her demonic power output.

This allowed her to tank the arrows while bursting the rest with her bare fists. 

One after another, she was able to smash the arrows.

Despite the arrows coming at her at an extreme speed topped with {Blindshot} that allowed them to connect to her –they will still F graded arrows because of his skill being low.

This made Koneko break through them with no effort.

However–

{Horo-Kanu}

Kento never intended to take her down with it.

{Light Manipulation}

Using {Light Manipulation} in the most minuscule amount to propel him towards the ground at an extreme speed, without anyone noticing his use of light, he managed to get right to Koneko.

Koneko sensed his presence, but because she dealt with the arrows –it was too late to defend.

The water that he summoned under her, made her movement sloppy and restricted. 

And with {Horo-Kanu}, he was able to land a clean hit right under her ribs.

Deciding the fate of the spar.

"Match!"

Sona yelled. 

"Kento wins!"

Finally taking a breath of relief, Kento was able to relax.

<<Plunder Quest Completed!>> 

<<Opponent Defeated!>>

<<Rewards: Points ×100, [Splash Potion of Poison (B) ×5]>> 

<<Plunder Failed!>> 

<<Failed to plunder essence from the opponent!>> 

'Fuck! Again?'

____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

[[A/N: Read ahead on Pat reon: Pat reon.com/Greedyfrog

Plundering only has a 50% success rate so far.

-> Why was Kento able to win?

° Koneko underestimated him.

° Koneko was only using enough power to match a low level fallen angel (but by the end she used more than that –Fully enhanced senses and quite a lot of demonic power).

° Koneko did not use any of her senjutsu cuz she is still scared of it.

-> Why did it take Kento so long to beat Koneko despite her using do little strength?

° Difference in experience, Koneko has been training since she was a kid.

° Kento's first real spar.

° Despite her lowering her offense, her defense was still at max.

° Kento still lacks the points to match a devil (Which he will obtain soon, reducing the reason to join a peerage even more.)

Don't worry about extended lifespan, there are ages before he reaches the point to worry about that.