[182] In Dire Need of a Heavenly Beast’s Deadbody

Chapter 182: In Dire Need of a Heavenly Beast's Deadbody

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Aqua was incredibly busy with his and his team's training montage. Although he was raising all of them, only a few would join him in his travels to Pangeal. So the girls must work hard to one-up each other and prove themselves worthy. 

Aqua wasn't going to take someone who was going to be a burden on his journey.

There were the obvious choices in his head already; Ai, Ruby, Tsubasa, and Ranefer. Especially Ruby, whose Dimensional Lost was going to carry them through Pangal. In total, he planned to take eight members other than himself and his Goddess, so he was waiting for four others to grow fast.

Ruby and Tsubasa needed to grow a lot, as well, they were far from ready. Ruby was not in a bad position, she was as powerful as an Archlord – thanks to having 5th Circle Magic as well as Gold-ranked Martial Arts, on top of Dimensional Lost. 

Aqua planned to raise her till Archlord and 8th-Circle Archmage, but that's probably a fool's dream in such a short time. He'll take Underlord and 6th Circle Mage too. He was giving her enough attention for her to achieve both.

As for Tsubasa, it was a little… complicated. She was at 4th rank of this world's Touki Rank, but when her mother took over, she became 7th rank for a brief period. So when Aqua gave her a Path to cultivate, he had to make her start from scratch.

She needed this because, as he noticed in his sparring against her, she was extremely weak for a 4th rank. The explosive gauntlet Sacred Gear was a waste to her.

So he made her start over, now training in his cultivation power system.

So from 4th Rank, which was equal to Jade, she dropped to Foundation. It took Aqua a year as a child to advance from Foundation and reach Copper, but with his current Sage powers, as well as multiple formation arrays set around the area, on top of the 7th rank pure Qi that her mother's soul provided, he managed to raise her to Iron in just three days. 

The [Stormforged Iron Body] was what she received.

Then, she sped through the next ranks in a breeze by training the breathing technique of the path he provided. She reached the peak of Jade in no time.

The Path of the White Tiger, that Aqua made based on himself from his 6th life, was a path suitable for her indeed. 

It granted her immense strength and snowstorm powers until Jade, and upon reaching Gold, she'll get a [Gold Sign] that'll allow her a proper Hybrid White Tiger form. She's going to turn her into a powerhouse, because along with the hybrid form came the power concept from his 6th life's world. Soul Core, Bloodline Core, and Divine Core. The first one will let her learn techniques from my 6th life that even I can't learn due to my current body; the second will grant her bloodline abilities that my wifey and I created in my 6th life. The third one… it'll activate after Underlord when she gets access to Soulfire, which is like divinity.

The Lord ranks and thereafter, as she'll get access to Soulfire, she'll learn the path's White Flame techniques. It'll turn her into a powerhouse.

So she better advance fast.

– Bam!

Her face winched as she was punched in the face, tossing backward and about to hit a wall, as she twirled in the air and landed her feet on the wall. She leaped from that position, shooting toward Aqua.

Aqua could dodge, but he didn't. He decided to face her attack head-on, and Tsubasa hoped that'd be a bad choice. She clenched her fist, as cold energy swirled around her forearm, spinning so fast as if to create a vortex, and she slammed it toward his face, but he blocked it with a palm. The area exploded with snow and ice immediately.

Tsubasa leaped back when he tried to grab her, and this time she opened her mouth – shooting a beam of cold energy at him. It'll freeze a city block if hit, yet Aqua blocked it with a hand. Soulfire burned on his palm, and he slapped the technique away.

"Let us stop here," he said when the technique ended. She panted, sweating even in this cold room, and nodded slowly. She was glad he didn't plant her against the floor with an attack before ending this, something he did every time against Ruby. "I think you've properly reached the peak of Jade. So it's time for Gold advancement."

"Alright…" Tsubasa nodded. "I'll try my best."

She had her mother inside her, who remained a 7th-ranked entity. She didn't need to be stripped of her Touki since she didn't have a physical body to be granted an Iron Body, and so it was a waste to make her start over. That 7th-rank energy in Tsubasa's body helped her grow a lot faster, which was welcome.

"Gold rank is going to be very beneficial to you. Your gauntlets create explosions, which is good but isn't very suitable with your ice powers. So in Gold, when you'll be able to learn Firestorm and Thunderstorm techniques, the gauntlets will become a lot more useful. Gold will also give you a lot of other important stuff, I'll explain later," I told her. "But there is a little… problem with this."

"Huh?" she blinked, while Ai walked over with a wet towel. She smiled at the older woman and stood up, accepting the towel.

Aqua explained, "Gold usually requires a martial artist to absorb a strong, powerful monster of similar affinity. If you remember, I hunted a Rainbow Unicorn for Ruby's Gold ascension a while back. For Asia's incoming ascension, Ranefer promised to give me a phoenix when it was time. I'll go hunt a Black Dragon for Yuzuru soon."

"As for me…" she frowned a little, already guessing the problem.

"Yes. I'm sure your mother's soul told you already, that the Shinra family serves the White Tiger; the real one, the legendary creature of the West." Aqua said, and Tsubasa gulped a little. She wasn't sure how to process the information; was she going to meet her other family for the first time, only to attack them and kill their Divine Deity?

"I have a meeting with the Shinra clan, actually. Well, I've delayed it for a long time, but I don't think they'll mind." Aqua said and Tsubasa understood. How could they dare to mind him, who killed Thor and wreaked havoc in Vedas? They should be glad and grateful that he was bothering to spare them at all.

"So… what's the plan? Are you going to kill that beast?" She asked gently, fearing the worst. To her dismay, Aqua rubbed the back of his head with a complicated look.

"If necessary, yes. We'll see. That's why I'm going to school tomorrow to meet with Tsubaki Shinra." Summer vacation ended a week ago, and none of them could bother to attend classes. It was the first time Aqua was going to attend. "After I talk with her, you and I will go to the Shinra Clan to talk to the White Tiger ourselves."

Tsubasa closed her eyes and sighed. "I understand," she opened her eyes. "I won't be attending class tomorrow. I'll wait for your call and leave when you need me to."

She needed to train more, and she wouldn't mind if she had to annihilate her mother's side of the family to grow stronger. Since… he needed her to be stronger, that's what she'll do.

He smiled at her, "I'm glad." Tsubasa felt a little tingly in her tummy, recently he was looking at her more lovingly than usual. It made her feel… great. She hoped that he wouldn't stop looking at her that way, ever.

****

The autumn wind was gentle, with leaves scattered around the school grounds. Japan looked very different throughout its four seasons; while its most popular look was the pink Spring, filled with cherry blossom trees, Rias liked Autumn better.

The entire country was a shade of red, and Kuoh High was no different. As red leaves danced in the trees, she observed it with her red hair swaying in the wind. She sat at the window seat of the class, near the end, as the teacher did his job, and she did hers.

As a student, she should be paying attention, but she couldn't be bothered to. It was September, school reopened after a long time, and she was bored beyond belief. Bored and… lonely.

Why isn't he coming to school… Rias pondered with a distant look on her face.

It's not as if she didn't know why, but she didn't know the exact reason. He seemed to be preparing for something big, but she didn't know what. He was busy training as if he was going to war against the world, but if so, why wasn't she included? 

She's now a part of his Sect, right? Then why was she excluded from this?

Rias was sad. Some might say why not visit him if he's not visiting you (the school) - but those 'some' would be too late. She did visit his house every now and then, but he was always too busy with others to give her any attention. It's not like she wanted him to waste his time by flirting with her, she wouldn't mind if he trained her too.

But alas, she was far from the most important one in his mind right now… recently, she's been doubting if she ever was.

Classes ended briefly, and the bell for lunch break rang. The students stood up and walked out of the classroom, save for her and her peerage who gathered around her.

"Rias~ get up already, it's lunchtime." Her Queen dragged her by the arm, and she let out a sigh.

"I'm not hungry today, Akeno." She really wasn't, she didn't even sleep last night. "You guys go, I'll stay here and watch the clouds." She said, taking a note of Koneko, who already had her mouth stuffed with homemade food.

Kiba came from another class and waited at the door, and she also noticed Saji show up, beginning to talk with Kiba. Those two were in another class, and they were here to wait for her.

"Look, everyone is here," Akeno crossed her arms and said. "Let's go already."

"Come, President," Koneko gently grabbed her sleeve and tugged, causing Rias to shake her head. She couldn't win if Koneko asked her like that.

"Fine, fine," she got up, "I'll just get some juice."

"Yay~" Akeno stuck to her side, putting an arm around her. Her flirty friend has been there for her for a long time, they were super close. But Rias couldn't help but look at her with a soft frown when she wasn't looking.

As she mentioned earlier, she visited Aqua's home now and then. There, she received no attention from him. Yet, somehow, for some reason, Akeno would easily spend a lot of time with him without him minding it. 

…Just how close did they get during that session with Kokabiel? Rias couldn't help but wander, as she and her group reached the cafeteria.

After grabbing food, they sat down at a table. Rias, as she said, only grabbed a glass of orange juice. Many students looked their way, whispering among one another. It wasn't anything bad, she and her group stood out even among these celebrity kids. But what was the point in having their attention, when she couldn't have the attention of the only person she wants it from?

Truthfully, she didn't know why she expected so much from him. If someone asked, she wouldn't be able to explain why she liked him that much. Sure she lacked friends when she first met him, but she and he didn't really befriend back then – he just gave her a KitKat. No, thinking back, he just felt… familiar when they first met. As if from that moment onward, they will spend a lifetime together.

"Haah," she let out a sigh and took a sip of her juice. Her peerage talked about this and that, while she leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling.

That's when a familiar aura walked into the cafeteria, causing her to blink and turn her head toward the door. Tsubaki, Sona's Queen, walked inside the cafeteria. But it wasn't her aura that attracted Rias' attention, it was the young man beside her, a head taller than everyone in the school.

They were conversing, and his face was uncharacteristically serious, just as it had been for the last few weeks.

Aqua was in school.

Why didn't he let me know…?

Rias wished to go greet him right away, but for once, she turned her head to the side and decided to act like she didn't notice. If he didn't want to talk to her, she decided to not disturb him too. So she focused on her juice instead.

"Hey," yet, to her surprise, he walked over to her instead of ignoring her. Rias turned to find him looking at her face, his expression softening. "You look tired, are you not getting proper sleep?"

"...." Rias sipped her juice from a straw, even as her face grew a little red, a soft smile spreading on her lips. He noticed what even her peerage hadn't.

She put her juice down and stood up. She was about to hug him, but just when she spread her arms, he pulled her into his arms by himself. "Take care of yourself better," he said, ruffling her hair. "I've trusted you with the responsibility of the devil side of my Sect, so I expect you to be strong-minded and mature. What if you get sick?"

"...."

"What's with that orange juice?" He shook his head, "Come to my table, I'll feed you something better."

"...Yes," she agreed as he led her away, while everyone in the cafeteria watched this in dumbfounded silence. They sat down, and Rias composed herself to listen to why he was here. He didn't seem to have come for a simple stroll.

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Author Note: Wild, we far from the goal. Let's put it down a bit then. If we're Top 5 by tomorrow, you get 2-chapters. Vote powerstones and get bonus chapters! Deal!

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