[Day: New Years Day]
[Location: ???]
[Time: Afternoon]
"Can any of you explain exactly where we are right now and what we are doing here?" I asked, watching my Love Demons setting up something important.
Lustie looked back at me, a sly smile curling on her lips. "Well, my lovely boyfriend, we are gonna train you to use Esorian Magic!"
I rose an eyebrow, slightly tilting my head. "Eh? What for? Am I already good enough with the power I have now?"
"Not exactly. While you can use our Presences to your advantage, you aren't strong enough to deal with Ardor and the rest of our sisters. You're currently the strongest human on Earth, as far as I know within the 50 chapters. You see, it's been a while since we've even heard of The Syndicates and since we've confirmed Habilee's books to be true, we know The Syndicates have Alchemists on their side," Lustie explained, floating toward me.
"Right, well that doesn't explain where we are exactly," I said, crossing my arms.
"We are in Destiny Island's mystical forest named Verdant Grove. This forest sits in the outskirts of the Island and expands from Destiny Central, Sanctuary City, and a hidden part of the forest sits in Heavenly Bay. It's away from all civilization, so no one will get hurt while we train you," Talenta answered, tossing me a pair of golden gauntlets.
[Location Registered: Verdant Grove]
I caught the gauntlets, admiring the craftsmanship of them. "Gauntlets?"
Talenta nodded, smiling at me and placing her hands on her hips. "Since you're very proficient in Hand to Hand combat, we've collectively decided your fighting style will be Martial Arts, but we will teach your to be versatile so you don't fall flat."
"Huh.." I said to myself, putting them on and checking myself out. "They fit pretty well.."
[You can thank me. Oh right! Let's give the readers an update on your stats. We haven't seen them in a while.]
"Oh right. I haven't checked them recently so let's check it out," I said as I took my phone out of my pocket.
[Information Acquired.]
Name: Shiro Moji
Age: 20
Birthday: December 6th
Occupation: College Student
Status: Destiny's Hero
Looks: 10/10
Ambition Level: 50
Ambition Percentage: 100%
Lust/Seduction Level: 50 {Crest Mastered}
Charisma/Charm Level: 50 {Crest Mastered}
Talent Level: 50 {Crest Mastered}
Flirting Level: 50
Passion Level: 50 {Crest Mastered}
Empathy Level: 50
Romance Level: 50
Luck Level: 50 {Crest Mastered}
Stamina Level: 50
"Ahh I see you've added new information..~ Nice to see how far I've come, but since the job still isn't finished, I know I have room for improvement," I said, smiling at the information displayed before me.
[You haven't reached the highest level cap yet. Since your dating skills are undeniable at this point, it's time to show you the real usage of these Love Crests you now have.]
"Correct!~ We have nothing left to each you about dating anymore and know you can hold your own with any woman you want, so we are focusing on getting you ready for Sanctuary City and tackling that entire fiasco," Lustie said, hugging me from behind with a giggle.
"Before we begin, how about we tell him about Esorian Magic and what it provides," Charismari suggested.
"Right. Alright, first thing you need to know is Esorian Magic requires a source to channel from. For Charismari it's Angelic Source, for Passion it's Draconic Source, for Luckie it's Onmyodo Source, for Talenta it's Esoteric Source, and for me obviously it's Demonic Source," Lustie explained, unwrapping her arms from around me then walked forward.
Lustie continued, "For most humans their source of power can either be Mana, Spiritual Force, Chakra, Chi, Bio-Energy, so on and so forth. Anyone with a magical source can use Esorian Magic."
"So what about me? What magic source do I have?" I questioned, curious about the magic energy I was associated with.
"See that's where things get rather interesting~ You can use all of our sources due to you having our Crest which acts like its own separate Power Source. Your Levels are more than just for your traits. They also power the Crests you have," Lustie answered.
[For a more simple explanation, the higher your level, the stronger your Crest becomes. The stronger your Crest becomes, the larger the Power Source.]
[In conclusion, you can use Five Power Sources: Angelic, Demonic, Onmyodo, Esoteric, and Draconic.]
"Exactly!~" Lustie nodded in agreement to Lust-E's explanation.
Celene watched us from a distance, running her fingers through her hair. "Are you sure this is safe for Shiro? I know he's strong and everything, but...this can be really dangerous for him and I don't want him getting hurt."
"Don't worry, Lady Celene. Shiro won't be getting hurt under our care. He is our boyfriend after all and it would suck if he got too hurt," Charismari said, giving Celene a reassuring smile.
Celene's nerves were slightly eased by Charismari's reassurance, but she couldn't shake the worry she felt since I was training against demons and not humans. "I suppose. Just be careful with him."
"Alright. So what's first on the agenda?" I asked, looking at my Love Demons.
"You will spend a day with each of us. We will each spar with you and teach you how to use your Love Crests and their respective Power Sources. But how should we go about this..?" Lustie pondered, tapping her finger upon her chin.
[Suggestion: You should go from weakest to strongest.]
[I have calculated each of your power levels and created a list of the weakest to the strongest currently. First it will be Luckie. Second, Charismari. Third will be Passion. Next, it would be Talenta. Finally, Lustie.]
Luckie's ears perked up and she looked surprised, pointing at herself. "Wait, I'm going first? I'm not ready yet!"
"You've got this Luckie!~ I believe you will be a great mentor for Shiro on his first day!" Lustie encouraged, giving Luckie a thumbs up.
Luckie looked at Lustie then nodded her head. She turned toward me and tossed off her cloak, revealing her Shrine Maiden outfit. "Alright...I can do this. I haven't taught anyone my Source before since only us Kitsune can use it but I will try my best."
I nodded at Luckie, giving her a smile. "I'm ready to learn."
Luckie nodded her head then took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She pointed her finger at me, placing her other hand on her hip. "Okay, Shiro! I will teach you how to use Onmyodo now! So first thing's first and listen closely!"
I stood up at attention, looking at Luckie with determination. "Yes ma'am!"
"You are prohibited from using any other Love Crest other than your Crest of Luck! No matter how bad the spar gets!" Luckie said, her tone filled with authority.
"Yes ma'am, no other Crests!" I said, nodding my head.
Luckie smiled at me, nodding her head before summoning a Sacred Talisman. She tossed it toward me, watching me catch it. "You will be needing this. It's an Esorian Talisman."
I studied the Talisman, noticing it looked like an amulet. "A Talisman? Aren't these usually made out of paper?"
[Most are, but this Talisman takes shape of an amulet so you can summon the actual real deal. Talismans are used for a variety of purposes, but mainly used for Sealing, Healing, Magic Attacks and other purposes.]
"I see.." I said, putting the amulet around my neck.
"Okay, use your Crest of Luck to awaken the Talisman," Luckie said, wanting to see if I can do it.
I nodded then awakened my Crest of Luck, watching the amulet shine. The amulet surrounded my body with mystical energy, my eyes widening with awe. The energy was different from the energy I received from my Lucky Break Presence.
"Ooo~ It's nice to see some actual aura from you Shiro~" Lustie giggled softly as she watched.
Celene watched with her arms crossed and smiled at me. "Well I'll be..~ So this is Esorian Energy. I'm quite impressed by how this energy feels..."
"Perfect! Okay, now I want you to concentrate and summon a Paper Ofudo like this one," Luckie said, summoning a Paper Talisman in her hand with kanji writted on it. "When you're ready to summon it, just wave your hand or snap your fingers."
[The Kanji says Good Luck.]
I nodded then stared at the Talisman in Luckie's hand, focusing on it. I studied how it looked, using my Hyper Learning to get all of the features down. Once I was ready, I snapped my fingers and the same Paper Talisman appeared in my hand. I looked at it, a bit surprised I got it on my first try.
Luckie's eyes sparkled with excitement, her tails wagging with glee. "Great!~ Now place that Talisman on your body because you're gonna need it~" Luckie exclaimed in a singsong tone.
I placed the Talisman upon myself, watching as the Talisman fused with my body. "What do you mean?"
Luckie giggled softly, snapping her fingers and the forest around us warped, leaving only us two around. "Around a vast area of the forest are five Talismans I want you to get. These are elemental Talismans that will grant you a certain element from an ability called Element Control."
Luckie crossed her arms, continuing her explanation. "These Five Talismans are called Chitsuchi for Earth, Suimizu for Water, Kahi for Fire, Fukaze for Wind, and finally Kusora for Aether! The first Talisman is to the right of you."
I looked over to my right, noticing a wooden talisman upon a tree. I turned back to where Luckie was standing then noticed she was gone. I looked around, noticing I was alone before walking over to the Talisman. I grabbed it off the tree then noticed it fuse with my Gauntlets.
[Obtained Chitsuchi. Earth Manipulation available!]
I began to walk around the forest, staying on guard then heard my watch beep. I looked at it, noticing Lustie was contacting me. I answered it and a holographic screen appeared above my watch.
"Shiro, good luck!~ If you're ever in any danger, you can call one of us and we'll stop the fight!" Lustie said then giggled softly.
"Got it..~" I said, smiling at Lustie then the call ended.
[Alright, Shiro. I have scanned the entire forest and located each of the remaining Talismans. One is in a lake, another is near a bonfire that has been left behind during someone's camping trip, the third one is floating in the wind so you'll have to chase after that one and the fourth one...I can't seem to locate that one.]
"Alright. Thank you for that.." I said to Lust-E. "Let's get these Talismans."
[Roger that!]
I began to stretch then looked at my left gauntlet, noticing the kanji for Earth Manipulation shined on it. I looked ahead and ran forward, using the map Lust-E provided me with to track down the Talismans. The Suimizu Talisman was the nearest to me so I tackled that one first.
As I ran around the forest, I heard rustling in the bushes then noticed a fireball rushing toward me and I immediately put my hands out to block it, noticing an Earth Shield construct in front of me, taking the fireball. As quick as the Earth Shield appeared, the Earth Shield burned down just as quick.
[Earth is weak to Fire. You're at an elemental disadvantage right now. It's best to avoid the fireballs using Lucky Break.]
"Right!" I said as I began to make a run for it.
As I ran, the rustling only became louder and I knew Luckie was hot on my trails. Suddenly, a wave of fireballs rushed toward me from both sides. I grunted and began to use my Lucky Break to evade each fireball, each minor miracle causing the fireball to either miss me completely or disappear before they reached me.
I saw the lake up ahead as I ran, noticing sparkles coming from the water. I picked up my pace, excited to get the Talisman out the water. Before I could reach the lake, I was tripped by roots then the roots wrapped around my leg, swinging me in a circle.
The roots threw me to the side and I yelled as I noticed I was headed straight for a tree. I grunted then held my hand out, the branches of the tree responding to my power and catching me. I let out a sigh of relief then the branches let me down safely.
"Okay...I can see what kind of test this is. She's using trickery and her own luck to mess with me while I search for the Talismans. If I want to beat Luckie...I need to match her playstyle," I said, rolling my shoulders and walking toward the lake.
[You'll need to dive in to get the Talisman.]
I nodded then dove into the lake and swam down the lake, seeing the Talisman inside a bubble. I placed my hand on the bubble, obtaining my second Talisman.
[Obtained Suimizu. Water Manipulation Available!]
[Hold on, Shiro. I'm sensing something.]
I looked at my watch then noticed a flash of light to the right of me. I looked over, noticing a sea serpent rushing toward me at high speeds. I grunted and began to swim up as fast as I could with the sea serpent chasing after me. As I reached the surface, a blast of water shot me in the air and I yelled with a bit of fear in my tone.
[Shiro! Sigil Bomb the Serpent!]
I listened to Lust-E's suggestion then formed a Love Bomb in my hand then charged it up completely, hurling it at the serpent at high speeds. The serpent shape shifted back into Luckie and she squeaked as she noticed the Sigil Bomb flying toward her then groaned as she was hit by it, an explosion happening in the air.
[Shiro look!]
As I began to descend to the ground, I noticed a green talisman floating in the air toward me. I tried to grab it but it slipped between my fingers. "Bruh..."
[That's okay. You have Earth and Water Manipulation so combine those two to make Plant Manipulation and land safely!]
I focused on landing safely, the symbols on my Gauntlets shining in response to my power. I began to concentrate, forming a ball of Earth and Water in each hand then fused them together, creating an orb of floral energy then threw it at the ground. Once it hit the ground, a large rose bloomed, catching me and allowing me to land safely.
I let out a huge sigh of relief, closing my eyes for a moment. "Training with Love Demons is definitely going on my Top 5 never again list..."
[You don't have time to rest! Luckie is hot on you!]
"I've got you!" Luckie exclaimed, smacking me with her tails before I got a chance to get up.
I recovered onto my feet then looked up, noticing Luckie running toward me. I quickly braced myself, evading her swift strikes. Luckie gave me no room to breathe as she launched her swift attacks and claw swiped at me. I evaded each strike to the best of my ability, my Lucky Break working overtime to allow me to block and dodge each of her strikes.
Luckie noticed an opening, immediately taking it and landing a calculated sweep kick then spun on her hand, using her agility to land a powerful kick to knock me back. I rolled along the ground, grunting as I hit rocks and sticks that laid on the battlefield.
[Stand and dodge then counter with a Sanctuary Combo into a Destiny Flare!]
I quickly stood up, seeing Luckie was still rushing toward me. I swiftly dodged her strike then countered with my Sanctuary Combo, landing each kick and juggling her in the air. I began to spin on my hand, showing off my own agility as iridescent lightning flashed around my legs, each strike landing true.
I kicked Luckie in the air, springing upwards and landing a powerful kick to her stomach, iridescent lightning flashing upon impact and blowing her away. Luckie yelped in a bit of pain then recovered in the air, landing on her feet and stumbled backwards.
Luckie held her stomach then watched as I ran off. 'Wow..~ Just amazing!~ Ooo, my fur is just tingling with excitement now!~'
I continued to run down a path that led to an old campsite with a bonfire that still was active. I noticed a red talisman floating above it then grabbed it, watching it fuse with my gauntlets.
[Obtained Kahi. Fire Manipulation Available.]
[You have three elements now. You can only wield two at a time at the moment. You can swap elements by changing the Talisman that is currently equipped to your gauntlets.]
I nodded then looked at my gauntlets, swapping my Earth Talisman for my Fire Talisman. "I can finally do this."
I spun around, using my Water Manipulation to create a ring of water around me then used my Fire Manipulation to evaporate the water to create steam around the area I was in, making the area foggy.
[Great thinking. This will make it harder for Luckie to see you.]
"Yeah, but I can't stay here. I need to place traps around to confuse her," I said then ran off.
Luckie noticed steam ahead then smirked, pouncing forward and using her wind to blow away the steam. "Ha! Found—"
Luckie noticed I wasn't at the camp then looked around for me. "Eh? Where did he run off to..?"
Luckie ran off and searched around for me, noticing steam clouds scattered around the forest. She used her wind energy to blow away the steam in each area, noticing I wasn't in any of the areas. She walked forward, looking around. Her ears flicked as she heard rumbling then looked below herself then groaned as a blast of super heated water launched her in the air.
"YOW!!! Hot hot hot hot hot!" Luckie cried out as she hugged her tails and used her water and wind energy to cool herself down. Once she was cooled off, she used the wind currents to float in the air. "I never taught him how to combine Elements...his Hyper Learning must've allowed him to do that. Hmm...he is crafty, so how will I get him?"
Luckie slowly descended to the ground then noticed another geyser getting set off and noticed me in the sky. She noticed the Fukaze Talisman floating in my direction then landed on the ground.
"He...calculated the wind direction of the Talisman..? The currents are supposed to be random.." Luckie said in slightly disbelief.
I began to skydive and watched the Fukaze Talisman float toward me then grabbed it, watching it fuse with my gauntlets.
[Obtained Fukaze! Wind Manipulation Available!]
[With all four elements available, you can use Nature Manipulation! I've also detected the last Talisman. It's with Luckie herself! You'll need to beat her to obtain it.]
Using my Wind Manipulation, I managed to land safely on the ground then noticed the forest shift and Luckie was now in front of me. With us face to face again and my sights set on getting the last Talisman from Luckie, I braced myself for battle. Getting into our stances, we had a staredown. A leaf slowly floated to the ground, neither of us making a move as we watched the leaf.
Once the leaf hit the ground and with incredible speeds, Luckie appeared in front of me landing a powerful blow to my stomach and knocked me away. I flipped backwards consecutively, recovering on my feet then began to block and parry each of Luckie's strikes with precision and swiftness.
With my arm, I palmed Luckie's arm down then countered with a swift right hook, my strike landing true and disorienting her for a bit. I began to dish out powerful blows, each strike knocking her back. I rushed forward, surrounding my fist with stones then landed a powerful blow to her face, knocking her back. The clone disappeared as it hit the ground, my eyes widening with shock.
Luckie began to somersault down toward me at high speeds. "Hiya!" She exclaimed, landing a powerful axe kick to my head then crashed down, causing a moderate sized smoke cloud to form.
Lustie whistled as she watched, covering her eyes from the sun. "I don't think I've ever seen Luckie move like this before~"
"Well she is fighting Shiro. He's a crafty fighter...and it doesn't look like he's done~" Talenta chuckled.
Luckie appeared outside the smoke cloud then grunted as she watched me stand up, noticing my stone helmet crumble off my head. "Heh..~ You never cease to surprise me, my love!~"
I chuckled softly then let out a Tribal Howl, my roar echoing among the trees and I awakened all of my current Talisman to activate my Nature Manipulation. All four elemental energies began to surround my body and my gaze landed on Luckie.
"Heh..~ You're already a natural at this..~" Luckie said as she watched me, getting back into her battle stance.
I propelled myself with my wind energy then used my feet to launch fire to change my trajectory into an axe kick, but Luckie swiftly dodged my strike and countered by hurling a sphere of bright blue energy at me. I blocked with my gauntlets, grunting as I was being pushed back.
[Fight it! Deflect it!]
I grunted even harder as I tried to overpower the sphere of energy, my feet continuing to slid backwards and leaving a trail behind. Soon, I was able to deflect the sphere in the air then watch it explode in the air. I panted softly as I slightly relaxed, my gaze returning to Luckie.
Luckie smirked, taunting me and getting back into her stance. "C'mon, my love~ I know that isn't all you have left!~"
I smirked at Luckie then checked how much stamina I had left in the tank.
[Stamina Meter: 50%]
[It's iffy, but I believe in you! Show her what we can do!]
I nodded and got back into my stance then propelled myself once again then launched a blast of water at her then used my wind energy to cool it off to make ice, the ice spikes flying toward her at high speeds. Luckie used her tail to break each spike before dashing toward me.
Blow for blow, neither of us backed down, all of our strikes either being blocked or evaded. Luckie used her tail to strike me, but I caught it and her expression went to shock. I chuckled as I spun her around, Luckie yelping and yelling as I threw her. She grunted as she flipped forward, planting her feet against a tree then launched herself toward me.
I surrounded my arm with Heavenly Energy and ran toward her as I prepared to strike with a Heavenly Impact. As I swung, Luckie vanished at blinding speeds then appeared behind me, placing a Paper Talisman on my back.
Luckie rose her hand then snapped her fingers causing the paper talisman to shine brightly then a burst of bright blue energy struck me. Luckie closed her eyes, lowering her arm then her ear twitched and she noticed a large root rushing toward her then grunted as a blaze of fire trailed behind, setting the roots ablaze. Luckie grunted and shape shifted into a snake, slithering her way out her bind before the flames could get her then returned to her normal shape.
"Gotcha!" I said as I was behind her.
Luckie looked surprised then groaned as I landed my Heavenly Impact, sending her flying backwards. Luckie crashed into a tree then fell to the ground, counting the stars that circled her head. The forest reverted back to normal and I looked around, seeing everyone around us again.
"Nicely done, babe!~" Lustie giggled as she flew behind me, hugging me from behind.
I chuckled softly then leaned against her, closing my eyes. "Alright...I think I can clock out for the day. My body is getting tired..~"
"You deserve it, and without any other power than your Crest of Fortune~ You truly are something else, darling~" Passion giggled as she walked toward us, watching Luckie stand up.
"Mmm...Now I know what a Heavenly Impact feels like. That damage is truly Heavenly and it dealt double damage to me!" Luckie whined, but her tails wagged with happiness. She sighed then reached in her top to pull the final Talisman out of her bra. "But you did amazing..~ I give you all my praises..~"
I watched as Luckie tossed the Kusora Talisman toward me then caught it with a smile. I watched the Talisman fuse with my Gauntlets. "Thank you, Goldie..~"
[Obtained Kusora! Aether Manipulation Available!]
[All Elemental Talismans Obtained.]
As the sun began to set, day one of my training was finished and I only had four more to go through. I knew I was in for a surprise for the next four days, so I wanted to make sure I got all the rest I needed. We all began to make our way back to my house so I could rest up for Day 2 against Charismari.