"Didn't you say that you had a plan?" Astros asked her son angrily, barely restraining herself from physically beating some sense into her child. If he wasn't still injured she would have given him some 'fists of love' as her husband called them.
"I did. I had plenty of plans in place however I underestimated his regeneration speed. I had heard that it was astounding even for a Phenex but failed to comprehend the extent of that so I couldn't use most of them." Damian explained concisely.
Riser Phenex was a talented devil who had been praised to the high heavens each and every day. Every facet of his abilities were strengthened to the extreme which is part of the reason he was even engaged with Rias to begin with.
His older siblings were stronger now however if you were to compare their talents to Riser they would pale in comparison. His flames were hotter, his winds shaper, and his regeneration was nigh instant.
He was quite literally the phoenix that was meant to raise the Phenex clan into prominence. Of course, arrogance and pride were quite dangerous sins. After a while, he became the strongest of his generation and simply stopped trying.
That negligence allowed Damian, one of the weaker members of the new generation of Devils, to defeat him. Of course, his victory was due in large part to luck. If he didn't awaken his trait, if Riser didn't treat him as the weakling he was, if Sirzechs didn't train him, and so on.
His victory wasn't only because of luck though. It didn't take a genius to see that Damian had gained quite a bit of muscle nor was it hard to notice the effort he had put into himself to accomplish the feat.
Yet the fact that his victory was achieved by sheer luck was not something Damian would forget quickly. He wouldn't go as far as to call himself complacent but he had instinctively underestimated Riser.
He wasn't sure if it was because Issei was able to beat him or based on the small show of power he saw when they first formally met but it had nearly cost him dearly. Especially since Riser's limits were a mystery to him as he never participated in a rating game Damian should not have done such a foolish thing.
Regardless, his goal was accomplished and he even accomplished something he thought would take quite a bit longer. All in all, it was a good result. He'll learn from his mistakes however reflection can come later when he isn't in danger of his mother murdering him.
"Ha. We'll be talking when we get home but…" His mother's anger slowly fizzled away revealing the pride held within her eyes as she placed her hand on Damian's head, roughly messing up his hair. "Good job Damian."
"Thanks!" Damian declared with a wide grin full of pride. His family was a close knit one but that didn't mean that compliments were given easily. None of them were people that gave out praise easily so… it mattered a lot to Damian.
"Ahem. I'm proud of Damian but we have an important thing to talk about." Alastor began with a cough, his glance clearly transmitting to the Satan that he wasn't welcome. It was the natural result but Ajuka's curiosity focused side would be quite disappointed.
Naturally, however, he understood that he had no place here. Learning of an ability similar to the Dragon's Heart was important enough. Anything else could be learned from further observation of Damian. They were master and student so there was plenty of time after all.
"Then I'll be going now. I have matters to discuss with Sirzechs. I'd expect some kind of meeting with him within the next few days. Farewell." Ajuka declared simply before his figure blurred out of focus, vanishing entirely within mere moments.
"Damian… in the process of fighting Riser, you awakened your clan trait. I would have liked to wait a bit longer but… you deserve to know." Damian's father began slowly, clearly hesitant to speak about something.
'Is there more to our clan trait? That's concerning.' Damian thought to himself, a worried frown on his face. The Thaumiel clan trait was something that must be hidden or else it would be a repeat of what happened to the dragons.
More power isn't always a good thing, especially when you can't control it. There was a limited number of people in the Thaumiel clan, just two really, and that meant that they would be forced to… increase the population for people to utilize as they please.
'With Ajuka's help we should be fine but…' Damian thought solemnly, his thoughts spiraling downward. Ajuka was a Satan but he was only one person. He could hardly always be protecting them. Not only is it physically impossible it wasn't possible with his position.
Ajuka would most likely be able to dissuade most people but people like the Bael clan and other factions such as Hades or Indra wouldn't be as concerned. Ultimately, the supernatural wasn't only ruled by strength. Cunning and wisdom were vital factors.
"Our clan trait optimizes our soul after there was a strong enough emotional stimulus to activate it which results in it producing infinite energy. The reason we had you try to contain your emotions… was to make sure you never awakened it." Alastor explained solemnly.
"So I could keep my demonic energy?" Damian asked though it was more of a statement. It made sense that they would want to ensure he didn't awaken their clan trait. To anybody but himself, it was not a helpful trait, it was actually a weakness.
To never have demonic energy besides whatever was left after sealing it away was… disastrous to put it bluntly. Sairaorg Bael was treated as the shame of the newest generation because he didn't inherit his clan trait let alone not being able to utilize demonic energy.
"How were you able to create teleportation circles?" Damian couldn't help but ask. While they were fairly rare, when attending public meetings and the like the head of the family was the one that had to make the teleportation circle to ensure the clan symbol was on it.
For the Thaumiel clan, that tradition would be nothing more than a curse so Damian couldn't understand how his father or ancestors dealt with it. Logically, it made little sense that members of the Thaumiel clan were able to survive without becoming hermits.
"At birth, members of our clan have magic circles imprinted on their souls that gathers and stores a large amount of demonic energy for us to use. Of course, we have to use it sparingly for obvious reasons." Alastor explained concisely.
"Ah…" Damian muttered, an awkward look on his face. He destroyed that magic circle when he was two...
*****
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