Chapter 16: Nightmare and a Glow of Ki

'It's been 15 minutes since I left, I wonder what will happen, doing this is incredibly exciting!' Mikazuki thought, spying on the entrance to her own house.

She knew everything that was happening in the shower, she wasn't an idiot after all, there were multiple clues the size of giant neon signs all over the house.

The most obvious were her sister's shoes, placed at the entrance, and with a few drops of water from the rain.

The other thing was that the bag and the package containing the figure of Kanetsugu Naoe had been moved from the center of the table to a corner.

And finally, the women's clothes that her sister had left in the bathroom hamper.

In Mikazuki's opinion, anyone who had missed all those signs should have the attention span of a goldfish, and it was lucky that her sister and senpai were so nervous about getting caught that they didn't think anything of it.

And thanks to this careless series of events, now she had not only some juicy blackmail material with which to annoy her sister but also a date with her beloved senpai.

A clumsy but warm on the inside senpai and a silly but maiden-hearted sister, a good double reward if anyone asked her.

At that moment, interrupting her thoughts, she saw how the door to her house opened, and coming out was her senpai.

Sharpening her vision as best she could, the girl tried to recognize any expression on his face as best she could, and it was only then that Mikazuki realized that she was too far away to recognize any expression her senpai might be making.

But even being this frustrated, she decided not to approach him, she had promised him that she would let him take his bath and leave quietly in exchange for a date, so that's what she would do, after all, she had already pushed her luck too much with her little trick, and she didn't want her crush to get too upset with her.

So she decided to keep her distance from him, at least for now, tomorrow would be another day.

And about 5 minutes after Ryuichi's figure walked away, the door opened once again, this time being that of Mikazuki's older sister, Kiryu Yuzuki.

Mikazuki smiled, she had promised not to bother anymore, but that promise was only to her senpai, her sister, who believed that she didn't know she was in the shower wasn't included in the deal, so bothering her was a free pass for Mikazuki.

So she left her hiding place and ran towards her house.

"Eh? Onee-chan? What are you doing here?" She asked, acting confused as she approached.

Hearing the voice of her younger sister, Yuzuki was startled and looked at her with a little panic in her eyes.

'Didn't you say you were going to a friend's house?' She screamed in her mind, but she couldn't say something like that, after all, she couldn't explain how she would know that if she supposedly hadn't been present when Mikazuki made that information known.

"M-Mikazuki?" The teacher said trying to hide her embarrassment.

"Onee-chan, did you just arrive? I went out recently and left Ryu-senpai at home, although he said he would be leaving in a few minutes, didn't you see him?" The younger girl asked with a hint of mischief in her voice, earning another startle from her sister.

"I-I didn't see anyone!" The teacher responded before turning around and running away. "I have things to do!". She yelled as she walked away from her.

"Ah, onee-chan!" Mikazuki, being a bit sadistic, ran after her sister, ready to tease her a little more.

######

As I walked home I didn't pay attention to my surroundings, the street was strangely empty, and cars passed by me in relatively long periods of time, but I didn't pay attention to any of that.

Only the words I saw in the red box that appeared several minutes ago were repeated in my mind.

The sound of a truck's horn caught my attention, and I stopped one step before leaving the pedestrian zone, avoiding being hit.

I stopped and looked around, coming to my senses and finally paying attention to my surroundings.

And as if that were a cue of some kind, the screen appeared in front of me again.

Missions:

First Mission: Lead by example

-As the chat administrator and the only one in the group who has a fairly approximate notion of the situation you are in, you have to show your companions what they should do.

Complete your first mission in another world alone with the best results possible!

Objectives:

-Guarantees the loyalty of [$"%#& © #$] to [$"%#& ].

-Avoid the death of ["#$! ##"#" #" "&!%¨*].

-Survive.

Optional Objectives:

-?

Mission Start:

-1$ days.

Time limit:

- +!#[*[] 4

Reward:

-Points related to your achievements.

Failed:

-You will be stranded in the world where the mission takes place for a random period between 0 to 10 years.

Second Mission: I'm not#%"a$"#/mob!

-You are the chat administrator, the closest thing there will be to an official leader, but no one in this chat sees you as such.

Prove your worth!

Objectives:

-Perform at least one action worthy of a leader and earn&$respect of at least 4 of the 5 members of the chat.

Time limit:

-Before finishing 4 Principal Missions

Reward:

-Random [EX] grade item from an alternate timeline of the universe where you currently live.

Failed:

-{[Grade A+] Reward: Son Goku Experience (DB-verse)} will be removed

-&%#*¨[}´*%%"##!

My legs shook, and I felt nervousness take over my body, raising my hands and looking at them I noticed that they were shaking, just remembering the dolls from Kyujin's world filled me with a feeling of uncertainty, and to "improve" things I would have to I had to complete this mission alone, and that's without taking into account the errors that plagued the text of this chat.

My right hand moved at incredible speeds, and a punch made me turn my face to the side, dispelling my tremors.

"Calm down". I said quietly, trying to regulate my breathing, it took me a couple of minutes, but finally, I found myself slightly calmer, I still had at least 10 days, I still had some time to prepare, both in resources and training, so I still could improve my odds.

Without wasting any more time, I quickened my pace to return home as soon as possible.

######

"No"

"Go away"

"Get out of me"

5 meters

As I crawled on the ground, blood dripped down the side of my forehead, mixing with tears and snot on my face, one of my arms was hanging limply while one of my legs was bent at the wrong angle.

4 meters

My functional remaining arm hurt, and even though it had a bruise and was missing a finger, it dragged me as far as I could from the monster that was walking towards me, 3 meters tall, with a head disproportionately large compared to the rest of its body and a horrible perpetual smile on its face.

3 meters

I couldn't, I was incapable of defeating this thing no matter what I did, I was alone, at the mercy of a monster that seemed to find my fear and pain enrichingly entertaining and funny.

2 meters

And all I could do was cry as I crawled, the thought of dying terrified me, and the idea of being trapped by this thing made it even more so.

1 meter

Why did I have to suffer this? Why didn't I try to get stronger? Why didn't I prepare better? Why did I have to do the first mission alone? Why did all this have to happen to me?

The creature was in front of me, and my back collided with a wall, preventing me from moving any further.

And as I saw its hand approach my face the only thing I could do was watch while the river of tears continued to flow down my cheeks, and the fear did not stop growing.

That's when I finally woke up.

Lying in my bed, with my forehead full of cold sweat, and with my breathing and heart rate going at the speed of a racing car.

My head turned a little, and I saw the red lights on the alarm clock next to my bed.

1:21 a.m

Both my hands went to my face wiping away the sweat, discovering that there were also a couple of drops of water coming out of my eyes.

"Damn". I complained in a pitiful murmur while gritting my teeth.

######

Although Kuoh City was "quiet" and mostly quite clean and orderly, it also had a peculiar area, a section made up mostly of abandoned warehouses, places where most people did not go near, even less at 2:00 a.m

But, even so, inside one of these abandoned warehouses, a human figure could be distinguished.

Dressed in a set of slightly worn sports clothing due to the constant use he had received over a recent time.

Ryuichi was lying on the ground while his hands firmly held a backpack full of rocks behind his head, his upper body moved repeatedly doing sit-ups, moving his right elbow in the direction of his left knee when he was in a sitting position before doing the same but in the opposite direction with his left elbow and finally lowering himself back down, but without letting his hands or the backpack touch the ground.

"Come on, I can do better". He said, encouraging himself to continue.

2:37 a.m

With his hands resting on the floor and his toes pointing toward the ceiling, Ryuichi's arms bent, lowering him until the tip of his nose touched the floor, then lifting him up once more as several beads of sweat fell from his face to the floor, forming a small puddle.

"I can still go on!" He screamed as he struggled to keep his balance.

2:54 a.m

While he had the suitcase on his back along with a tied tire, Ryuichi kept his left hand behind him at the level of his lower back while his right held him against the ground, lowering and raising him repeatedly.

Until he used more force than necessary, pushing himself up just enough to give him just enough time for his hands to exchange positions, now his right hand was behind his back while his left stopped his fall, preventing his face from hitting the ground.

For a moment, Ryuichi stood still, taking a deep breath before releasing the air once more, restarting his movement, only this time his left arm was the one that did the work.

3:21 a.m

Standing in a fighting stance, Ryuichi's eyes remained closed, his senses heightened to the maximum, his concentration reaching the point where he could hear the sound of his heartbeat and breathing even when he was quite calm, his skin damp from the sweat easily identified the direction of the wind.

And from one moment to the next, his eyes opened, and his body moved, the knowledge of a fighting style that had transcended divinity flowed into his mind, experiences of fights with all kinds of enemies, and teachings from the best teachers that Son Goku was able to find, from his grandfather Son Gohan, through Master Roshi, Master Karin, Master Mutaito, Mr. Popo, Kami-sama, Kaio-sama, Pybara, Merus, Whiss and many more.

Each one contributed to the creation of a fighting style that could be described as nothing less than an art, free of ties and complex or cumbersome movements, fluctuating and adaptable to any hand-to-hand combat, instinctive, invincible, and above all, untouchable.

His hands, now transformed into fists, punched the air as his footwork moved him from side to side.

However, Ryuichi's body and mind were not completely synchronized, not even close, so although to the eyes of ordinary people, the movements might appear perfect, his movements were not even a millionth as precise, fast, or powerful ones that were reproduced in his mind.

And yet, even though he was aware of this fact, Ryuichi continued to practice, moving, punching, kicking, and dodging a seemingly invisible opponent.

After all, he knew very well that no matter how strong and fast his body and reflexes became, misused strength would always be wasted strength, and he couldn't afford that, not with the dangers that awaited him just around the corner.

4:00 a.m

And finally, after all that training, when Ryuichi felt that he was incredibly close to the limit of what his body could handle, he decided to do one last two tests.

Standing in front of a concrete column similar to the one Kyujin used to show everyone his power, Ryuichi concentrated, taking a stance, he breathed in a large breath of air and held it in his lungs for a few seconds before releasing it while shouting.

"HA!" His voice came out at the same time as his fist moved at full speed, crashing against the column and giving way to a thumping sound that resonated due to the echo.

Removing his fist and looking at it, Ryuichi saw that his knuckles were red, and a thin red thread ran from his middle finger.

He then turned his gaze to the concrete column and saw that there were some small cracks where his fist had impacted along with a bit of red, most surely from the small wound on his knuckle.

Nodding to this, Ryuichi took the same posture again while closing his eyes again, but this time he not only visualized what the blow should be like and the way his body should move to achieve the greatest possible damage.

Within his body, the energy that every living being in the creation possessed, his ki, moved following his orders, covering every part of his body, from the soles of his feet to the last hair on his head, covering him and empowering all of his physical capabilities to the point where his energy had managed to physically manifest around his body in the form of a very thin layer of semi-transparent light, dim and undulating, it seemed to turn on and off as if it were the beating of a heart, to anyone who saw it it would surely be as if a small amount of steam coming out of his body.

And it was at that moment that his eyes widened and his fist hit the concrete column once again, but this time the result was different from before, the column shook, and some dust fell from it.

The cracks expanded throughout a considerable part of the construction as if it were a spider web, and in the center of it, Ryuichi's fist sank several centimeters into the concrete.

When he removed it, Ryuichi could see that there was no wound on his limb other than the small one on his knuckle from the previous blow, but now, having coated his body with ki, the power of the impact and the hardness of the material he had hit was incapable of to make a dent in your skin.

Stopping looking at his fist he could clearly see the damage he had caused, the mark of his fist was clearly printed on the column, and Ryuichi was sure that if he launched a couple more blows he could knock it down, but he refrained, he still had one last test to do.

Nodding contentedly to himself, he sat cross-legged and raised his hands to the height of his stomach as if he were holding a small soccer ball.

Looking carefully between his hands he concentrated as best he could, the information on how to achieve what he wanted was in his head, but even so it was laborious, it was similar to having an instruction book in front of him, even though he knew the steps, he still had to carry out the actions on his own.

Little by little, almost imperceptibly, between his hands a small spark glowed for a second before going out, but Ryuichi did not give up, his eyebrows furrowed in the sign of the amount of concentration he was putting into his actions.

And then once again, the small spark shone again, flickering as if it were fighting not to go out, for three seconds the tiny light struggled to continue existing, until finally, one last impulse from Ryuichi managed to ignite it completely.

The boy's red eyes shone, amazed by the light born between his hands, emitting a pleasant heat that reached his palms, shining in this dark warehouse as if it were a star in the sky.

Until in the end, Ryuichi's hands fell, and the light went out as his palms touched the ground, the dark-haired boy's slightly labored breathing a testament to his exhaustion.

"Ha… I… ha…. I did it". He said happily between breaths, looking up he noticed how the ceiling of this place had a huge hole, so he could see the starry sky above Kuoh.

"How long has it been since I stopped for a moment to see the stars?" He wondered, remembering that when he was younger, whenever he felt sad, insecure, or scared seeing the stars helped him calm down.

He never knew why, and in some ways, it was similar to gymnastics, it just felt... natural, familiar, like a habit he had acquired after doing it for too long.

And now those bright spots in the sky reminded him of the ki sphere that he had created a few seconds ago, comforting him even more, and in his mind, both brightnesses helped dispel, at least a little, the shadows of his fears and nightmares.

He didn't know if now he would really be able to defend himself or win against things like the monsters of Kyujin's world, but he refused to give in to fear, after all, ki did not only serve to improve his physical statistics.

He stayed there for a few more minutes, and when he finally caught his breath, he slowly got up due to the residual pain in both his arms and legs.

4:38 a.m

That was what he could see on the watch on his wrist, so he decided that it was time to go home and get some sleep, his mood was better, and he would need to rest to go to work this afternoon in the best possible condition.

######

Several Hours Before

Rias Gremory was distraught, if the information from her servants turned out to be correct then the situation might be more than she and her peerage could handle, a senjutsu user was incredibly dangerous.

And although it was not certain that this Ryuichi was, the other option was not something very encouraging either, after all, she only knew one other way in which it would be possible to control one's own life energy, a touki user, and if what he could do Sairaorg was a test, a single punch could knock out an ordinary demon at best, while at worst, broken bones and internal injuries would be a certainty, and even death would not be impossible.

"Rias, don't you think you should ask for Sirzechs-sama's help?" Beside her, her queen, Akeno Himejima, advised with a thoughtful expression.

She should? The idea of doing so, although it was the most sensible thing to do, somehow made her uncomfortable.

What kind of image would she be displaying if she sought help from her brother right after running into a potentially serious problem?

She wasn't a scared girl, and she wouldn't give that image to anyone, yes, this wasn't a problem, at least it wouldn't be if she handled it the right way.

Maybe it was something like a stroke of luck in disguise? Either way, although it bothered her a little, she would still have to ask for some help, just as insurance to avoid trouble.

"No, or at least not for the moment, I already told both Yuuto and Koneko not to approach him and I spoke with Gasper to verify his data on the network and confirm that he is who he says he is and that no one created a false identity for him, I have my familiar following him 24 hours a day from afar, for now I will talk to Sona to ask for some help, if everything goes well we will contact him in a few days". She said before taking a cup of tea and drinking all that was left.

And although her actions seemed fairly well measured, Akeno couldn't help but worry a little about what might come of all this.

X-X-X-X

Well, here are the first missions, and as expected the stupid chat is a little broken, let's hope this doesn't cause problems for Ryuichi in the future *wink-wink*.

On the other hand, if anyone has an idea that I could use as a reward [EX] for the second mission please let me know, because regardless of whether Ryuichi gets it or not I want to say what the reward is later, I have a couple of ideas, but I haven't completely decided yet, and depending on what it is it could change the course of this story.

Keep in mind that this reward has to be from some timeline in the world of DXD, and that as far as I have planned, Ryuichi will remain human.

Oh, before I forget, since someone asked about the name of the story I mentioned in the previous chapter, here it is: "The Passionate Daily Life Starting from the Tachibana Family". It's on the Webnovel page.

Remember that if you like this story, you can leave a comment, review, or a power stone, that will inspire me to write more, see you in the next chapter.