Chapter 24

I breathed in with my stomach, holding my breath for precisely five seconds, before exhaling through my mouth. A fairly simple breathing technique, yet it was surprisingly good at calming me down and getting me in the right mindset. Slowly but surely, I entered a meditative state, my senses turning inward.

Two days ago, when I tried doing this, I failed to establish a conscious connection with the life stream. However, today, I was more than prepared, and I caught a glimpse of it. I forced down my happiness, keeping myself calm and collected as I focused on my soul, and its connection to this mysterious force.

I didn't rush at this point, for haste makes waste. Instead, I took my time, gently probing the life stream and learning more about it with each second that passed. Piece by piece, the puzzle started forming together until it all clicked together.

My mind expanded as I was suddenly aware of every single living being around me. From the many Youkai, to the birds flying around, and even the insects scuttering about. I knew where every single one of them was without needing to use any fancy technique based on a radar.

It was a bit overwhelming at first, but I quickly adjusted to this new sense of mine as I already had some experience with adapting to enhanced senses. Once I felt more comfortable, I pushed a little more, testing to see how far I could extend this life sensing. Slowly, I expanded the area of this weird perception, going as far as covering the entire city.

I grunted as my head started throbbing in pain. My brain just wasn't used to perceiving so many things at the same time. There were over thirty million people living in Tokyo. That alone was enough to give me a headache, but what about the animals and insects? Yeah, it would take me some time to get used to this, and I would need to figure out a way to filter the information, limiting it to only specific types of souls.

Breathe in, breathe out. I took a moment to relax before I attempted something else. I poked my connection with the life stream before I delved in, pushing my mind inside it to see if I could use it to locate a specific soul.

'Impossible.' I came to this conclusion the second I took a look at exactly what the life stream was. Magari had described it as a river connected to every single soul, be it living or dead. Only now did I truly understood what she meant.

There were currently seven billion humans on Earth, but how many have lived and died in the past? What about all the animals and insects or any other type of living being? The life stream was connected to an uncountable number of souls.

The only way for me to locate a specific one here was to get extremely lucky and randomly stumble upon it. Otherwise, I could spend hundreds of years without even getting through a single percent of the souls here, as for every soul I inspected, a new one would get born, ensuring that I would never truly be capable of exploring the entirety of the life stream.

This was disappointing since I couldn't use it to track down the guys that attacked me. Though, on the other hand, the life stream turned out to be an even better source of energy than I thought. I only needed to find a way to harness it. I didn't even have to worry about the conversion ratio since it was practically infinite.

I breathed out as I pulled my consciousness away before I opened my eyes. A pair of amber orbs were intently staring at me in disbelief. I tilted my head, innocently blinking at Magari.

"Bull fucking shit!"

"Language!" I called out as I pointed at her with a finger gun before firing a spray of water. As expected, she easily avoided my cantrip and jumped away.

"Did you just try to spay me with water?" Magari asked, shocked that I would attempt such a thing.

I nodded with a grin. "That's how you teach naughty cats to behave, by spraying them with water."

"What?" Magari blinked in confusion, having a hard time believing my audacity. That lasted only for a moment before her aura erupted, seven white tails with black spots appeared from behind her, aggressively swaying in the air. "You're asking for it, brat!"

"Come on!" I jumped up, hands up and prepared for a fight. "Bring it on, granny!"

Magari stared at me with narrowed eyes before she shook her head. Her aura calmed down, and her tails vanished alongside it. She took a deep calming breath before speaking, "I will discipline you later… Now sit."

Oh, come on! I needed someone stronger to beat the shit out of me, so I could start figuring out my newest power! Magari was the perfect person for the job. Why did she have to back down?

With a grumble, I plopped my butt on the ground, staring at her with a pout. My disappointment was immeasurable and my day was ruined. This really was the perfect opportunity to test out my new power. Why did she have to back down?

"How?" Magari asked after staring at me for a long moment. "You couldn't even sense the life stream the other day, and now you got it on the first try? Did you go and find a Buddha to teach you yesterday?"

"Nope! I was busy entertaining Satan Lucifer yesterday," I replied with a shit-eating grin. "You really have to understand something about me… I'm just built different."

I was the greatest cheater in existence, and I was proud of that. Fake it till you make it, and all of that. Sure, I was aware that I wasn't that talented, and I had already accepted that. However, that didn't mean I couldn't cheat my way into making everyone else believe I was a never before seen prodigy. Hehehe.

"Do you have any questions now that you have a conscious connection to the life stream?" Magari asked, deciding to ignore my comment.

"Hmm." I cupped my chin as I thought it over.

I already noticed a few positive changes. For example, my Ki regeneration had more than doubled now that I could consciously pull more life force from the life stream. All of my Senjutsu techniques had also been elevated to another level. Even my Cooking Magic was probably better now as well.

However, those were things I could easily confirm on my own. Instead, there was something far more important I wanted to ask about.

"How do I become a Buddha from here?"

"Why are you so focused on that?" Magari curiously asked. "You even asked the Boss about it the other day."

"I want my divinity, damn it!"

"Divinity, huh?" Magari snorted.

"Yes, divinity!"

"Well, there are two ways to obtain divinity."

I leaned forward, intently focused on her words.

"The first is to ascend as a God. For that, you'll first need to be blessed by a God. This can also help you in becoming a Buddha, but it isn't a necessity."

I engraved that in my mind. I did wish to meet with a God, and this was the perfect excuse. Just wait a bit longer, Ereshkigal, I would soon come to find you!

"Then you will have to perform tasks given to you by that God's Pantheon. Once you've proven your worth and impressed them, they will elevate your status, helping you ascend as one of their own."

Ooo. I didn't like the sound of that. Not only would I need their help to become a God, but I would also be tied with them from that point? Yeah, this method definitely wasn't for me.

"And the other way?" I asked, prompting her to go on.

"Becoming a Buddha. It is… both easier and harder at the same time. It is easier because it can be achieved without any help. However, it's harder for that same reason as becoming a Buddha is entirely dependent on you."

"Yeah, but how do I become one?" I eagerly asked. "And please don't tell me I have to give up on all of my earthly desires."

"Well." Magari mischievously grinned, and my heart skipped a beat.

Was my dream doomed from the start? Did I seriously have to give up on my earthly desires or join a Pantheon to obtain divinity? Which Pantheon should I look into then? The Norse?

"Giving up on your earthly desires is one way to achieve that. I've heard a few Buddhas preach that they used this method."

My eyes opened wide in joy. There was another way!

"As I said earlier, becoming a Buddha is both easier and harder than becoming a God. You just need to experience enlightenment and achieve inner peace. Some do that by giving up on all of their earthly desires and spending countless years meditating in solitude. Others achieve it in their own unique ways."

"That's it?" I asked in surprise since it sounded way too easy to me.

"Hah! "That's it?" He asks! Do you even hear yourself?" Magari asked, looking at me as if I was an idiot. "If it was that easy, there would be hundreds, if not thousands, of Buddhas running around."

Maybe she had a point. Buddhas were even rarer than Gods, so it probably wasn't that easy. Now the only question was, how do I cheat my way into enlightenment and inner peace? Yeah, this looked like it would be harder than I initially imagined it would be.

"If you don't have any more questions, we can move on to manipulating the life force of others, starting with plants. Depending on how quickly you pick it up, we can maybe get some sparring done today. The boys have been itching to test your mettle since the moment they saw you."

Oh, that was perfect! Maybe one of them could even push me enough to trigger my newest Perk?

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–Magari–

Quite a few of them had all gathered to watch the upcoming fights. Michael was down in the fighting arena–because of course they had to have one–eagerly hopping on his feet while shaking his arms. Each of his actions screamed just how much he was anticipating this.

"He really picked it up in just a couple days and already figured out how to manipulate the life force of plants, huh?" Her Boss asked from beside her, keeping an eye on what was going on, though he seemed far more interested in the cookbook he was reading. "I thought you said it would take him a month at least."

"I assumed as much," Magari replied with a sigh. "But I was apparently wrong."

On the one hand, she was happy that Michael was picking up on Senjutsu so quickly since that meant that she wouldn't have to deal with his nonsense for much longer. On the other hand, it… irked her how he was learning it as quickly as she did.

Sure, she wasn't a Nekoshou, a type of Nekomata that could use Senjutsu as easy as they breathed, but she was still a Nekomata for fuck's sake! How was this stupid human picking it up as fast as she did?

They watched as Kogai jumped inside the arena. He cracked his knuckles as his form shifted, revealing his true appearance of a red Oni.

"Alright, humie. Time to see if you can endure a beating!" Kogai declared with a savage grin, though that made Michael laugh in response.

"What do you think his chances are?" Her Boss asked as he flipped to another page, humming in intrigue at what he found there.

"Considering he tried baiting me into a fight earlier? I'd say Kogai stands no chance."

"He had also survived fighting two Longinus users," her Boss remarked, agreeing with her.

Of course, they had done their research on Michael and had easily found out about his circumstances. Not that he had tried to hide it in any way.

Still, it was quite surprising to hear what those guys from the Agency had to say about him. A monstrous brute that had survived with a massive hole in his chest and had beaten up their agents despite his life-threatening injury.

This at least confirmed that he had fought against the Longinus users and walked away from that fight with his life. How he survived was an entirely different story because according to them, Michael had refused a Phoenix Tear and healed on his own.

How ridiculous was that? Sure, Michael had a stupid amount of life force–which had somehow grown even more in the past two days–but this was simply mind-blowing. Humans weren't supposed to survive without their heart! For fuck's sake, even supernatural beings would have a hard time surviving in such a condition!

"RAA!" Kogai charged him with a roar while Michael just stood there with a stupid grin on his face. "Take this, humie!"

The Oni stomped on the ground before throwing a punch with all of his might, aimed right at Michael's head. He didn't even try to dodge it, instead opting to take it head-on–quite literally–all while grinning the entire time. Kogai punched him with all of his power, yet he barely managed to move the human's head, only pushing it back slightly.

"Man, you hit like a little girl," Michael said with a laugh as he pulled back his hand. "Let me show you how to punch."

His arm flew out as quick as lightning, smacking Kogai in his stomach. The Oni doubled over with a wheeze before weakly dropping on his knees.

"Is that all you got?" Michael asked with a tilt of his head.

"I'm still not–"

"Talking isn't a free action!" He interrupted the Oni as he threw another punch, smacking Kogai on the head and sending his body tumbling on the ground.

Her Boss snorted from beside her, finding amusement in the human's words. The poor Youkai didn't get up this time, so it was time for another one to jump in.

"Who's next?" Michael yelled as his eyes scanned the crowd before they landed on Magari, staring at her challengingly.

She was tempted, she really was, but now wasn't the time for this. Another Youkai jumped in, this time a Kappa, though Magari didn't think he would stand a chance against the human since he was only Mid-Class. Only a High-Class Youkai could fight Michael and force him to go all out, but even that might not be enough.

"You're strong and durable, yes, but a fast and skilled fighter will easily take you down," the Kappa said, sounding as if his victory was already assured.

"Oh?" Michael raised his eyebrow, and Magari felt his life force surge for a brief moment.

Then he moved, appearing next to the very surprised Kappa. The Youkai eyes were wide open as Michael's foot slammed into him, sending him out of the arena with a single attack.

"Is this all you got? Where's the challenge?" He taunted the crowd.

The stupid battle hungry idiots responded just as she expected them to. They started fighting amongst each other as every one of them wished to challenge the human and prove him wrong.

Eventually, one jumped in the arena, only for Michael to make short work out of him. Then another hopped in, suffering the same fate as the previous three.

One after the other, Michael won against their Youkai. Even the High-Class ones didn't have much success against him. They managed to match his physical abilities, but he proved he was a skilled fighter, defeating them all with relative ease.

Only the strongest of them all managed to push him to the point of using his Touki, but that was about it. That's what she expected from someone who had survived fighting two Longinus users, though Magari was sure he was hiding a few trump cards up his sleeve.

Rihan Image. 

"Father," her Boss' son, Rihan Nura, said with excitement dancing in his eyes. "I wish to challenge him."

"Go have your fun." Nurarihyon casually waved, though he closed the cookbook, showing he was also interested to see how this would go.

They watched as Rihan jumped down and saw how Michael's stance turned serious as he inspected his newest opponent. Then he grinned widely. "Finally! A worthy challenger!"

"I hope you don't mind if I use my sword," Rihan said politely as he hefted the blade hanging from his waist.

"Not at all." Michael shook his head.

Rihan smiled in response as he unsheathed his blade. Both of them stood still for a moment, simply measuring their opponent. Meanwhile, the crowd of Youkai cheered in anticipation, all of them staring at the two fighters with respect and admiration.

Then Rihan made the first move, shooting off the ground towards Michael. Magari noticed that her Boss' son was limiting his physical abilities, perfectly matching those of his opponent.

That proved to be a mistake as Michael showed to be far more skilled than they believed as he perfectly anticipated Rihan's attacks. In fact, Magari noticed that he was moving to dodge before her Boss' son had even swung his blade.

"Stop holding back!" Michael demanded after he ducked under Rihan's blade and kicked him away.

"My apologies." Rihan offered him a short bow before he brought out his Touki and moved much faster than moments ago.

Michael fearlessly met him head-on. He was still perfectly predicting Rihan's attacks, but the Youkai clearly had the advantage this time around since he managed to land multiple hits on him, cutting right through the human's Touki and into his skin.

However, all those wounds healed up in a split second, disappearing as fast as they appeared on his body. Michael also ended up revealing another one of his abilities as all of his attacks started releasing explosions, making up for his lack of reach.

"I said," Michael's words were filled with anger as he took a step forward, his life force surging in quantity, and his Touki turned a bright red color as he somehow doubled his physical abilities out of nowhere. "Stop holding back!"

He landed a devastating punch on Rihan's shocked face, sending him tumbling on the ground. A complete silence fell upon the arena as they all stared at Michael in bewilderment.

"What is that? A Sacred Gear?" Her Boss asked, clearly confused at what just happened.

"No," Magari replied while trying to figure it out herself. "He doesn't have one. I'm sure of that."

"It seems humanity has produced yet another freak," Nurarihyon said with a sigh.

"At least we have some sort of an explanation for this one," Magari replied, knowing who her Boss was talking about. "But Strada? That monster has no right to be this strong. It makes absolutely no sense!"

"Probably something done by the God of the Bible," her Boss mused.

Magari agreed with him. That guy was known to do ridiculous things, after all. He casually made a race that was filled with Ultimate-Class beings. A couple of them were even on the level of Chief Gods.

He also created hundreds of divine artifacts and gave them away like candy, spreading them among humanity without a care in the world. Some of the Sacred Gears were so ridiculous that they even had the power to turn regular humans into threats that even Chief Gods had to fear.

What the fuck was that guy even thinking? More importantly, what was he even doing at the moment? He hasn't been seen for hundreds of years, so what kind of monstrosity was he making now?

You know what? Magari didn't even want to know. Instead, she focused on the fight in front of her.

"It seems I have no choice but to go all out," Rihan said as he got up, a wide smile on his face as he seemed happy at this opportunity.

Michael grinned in response, his weird red Touki dancing around him like a flame. Seriously, what the fuck was that? How did he even do it? He really was a stupid savant just doing things because he felt like it.

Both of them moved at the same time, rushing with lightning fast speed. They clashed in the middle of the arena, throwing out attacks that many would have a hard time even seeing.

Magari wasn't one of those unable to follow the fight, and she clearly noticed that Rihan had the advantage, even if Michael was performing admirably. Still, her Boss' son was having a hard time injuring the human since he regenerated way too quickly. Michael was a juggernaut that just kept going no matter what.

Rihan noticed that as well. He would either have to take him down with one overwhelming attack or be forced in a battle of endurance. The latter wouldn't be in his favor since Michael's Ki reserves were absolutely ridiculous.

"Prepare yourself," Rihan warned as he jumped back, distancing himself from his opponent.

Then he exploded forward, all of his Ki and Youki gathering in his sword as he swung down with devastating force. That was an attack that could cleave through a city, compressed into a swing aimed right at his opponent.

Magari and her Boss stood up, prepared to intervene at a moment's notice. They weren't necessarily friends with the Devils, but they would rather not offend them by killing someone who was apparently on good terms with one of their leaders.

Michael clearly sensed how dangerous this attack was and tried dodging away, but he wasn't fast enough. He was forced to block it, and they watched as Rihan's blade cut right through his left arm, cleanly severing it from the elbow down on the spot.

"Shit!" It wasn't that bad since–

Magari's eyes opened wide as Michael reached out and grabbed his severed limb before using it to smack Rihan in the face. He transitioned into a spin and delivered a roundhouse kick that pushed his opponent away with yet another exploding attack.

Everyone stared at him in astonishment because his arm was back in its place. The little monster had managed to reattach and heal his arm mid spin!

"Alright! I think that's enough for today!" Her Boss declared loudly, and the Youkai all erupted into cheers, screaming loudly in joy for seeing such a fight.

Rihan politely bowed to his opponent, though Magari saw how he wished they could have continued their fight. As for Michael? He turned to them with a betrayed look on his face.

"Oh, come on! It was just getting interesting!" Michael called out with a pout.

Little shit got his arm cut off and that was what he thought? That the fight was just getting interesting? Why wasn't she surprised?

"We can spar again in the future," Rihan told him with a smile.

"You bet we will!" MIchael declared with a grin. "Saiborg's the only other one that can push me that far."

"Saiborg? Is he strong?" Rihan asked as Michael walked over to him before he started telling him about the heir of the Bael Family, the two acting as if they were best friends despite the fight they just had.

Magari looked at her Boss and patted him on the shoulder. "Let's hope Rihan doesn't get infected by Michael's stupidity."

Nurarihyon stared at the two as they walked away. "It might be too late for that."

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Beta'd by Gerald of Revea. 

A/N 

I'm not sure if this will be mentioned in-story, but the life stream isn't limited to just Earth. It's a force that encompasses the entire Universe, so it's even bigger than Michael believes it is. You can even argue that it's a multiversal force if you consider ExE as a separate Universe.

That aside, Rihan isn't a canon DxD character, but I figured I could throw him in here without causing too many issues. He's an Ultimate-Class Youkai since he's being groomed as their next leader, though he's still among the weaker ones in his level.