Author's Note: For those interested, there are now three advance chapters (We are in chapter 30) on P-atreon (remove the spaces and dash): p-atreon/ Krakenian01
Ryuichi P.O.V
After reading the status of the mission I had just completed I considered my options, I wasn't crazy enough to accept the rewards in front of everyone and be seen pulling potions out of nowhere.
But I also didn't want to use a low-medium grade potion when I was sure that the two low-low grade potions would leave me in good shape, so I was left with only one option. "Touji, can you bring my backpack? I need something from there." I asked, and my brother nodded before running to where he had been watching everything with Kirisu-sensei.
"Aren't you going to get up?" Rias asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm sure I have some muscle tears, and I don't want to make it worse." I said before quickly adding. "And I don't need help." So that neither she nor any other crazy person would come near me.
Touji returned a few seconds later with my backpack, and when I had it in my hands I looked askance at the demons before sighing and putting my hand inside the backpack as if looking for something while in my mind I crossed my fingers that my request would be fulfilled.
At that moment, the blonde made a grunt and seemed like he was about to wake up, which caught the attention of all the demons.
"Yuuto, are you okay?" The redhead asked approaching him with Akeno next to her, so I took advantage of that small window of time.
'Please appear inside the backpack, please appear inside the backpack.' I repeated like a mantra before accepting my rewards.
I couldn't put into words the amount of relief I felt when I felt the glass vials touch my fingers inside the backpack, so I moved my hand a little further to take just the 2 vials and took out my hand with the two objects.
"What's that?" The redhead asked, looking back at me when the swordsman began to open his eyes.
"Something that should help me." I responded by removing the corks and drinking the contents of both vials at the same time.
After that, I felt how my muscles began to heal quickly, the persistent pain in my arms ceased, and the palpitations in my legs also calmed down, the bruises that I was sure I gained on my shoulder, chest, and forearm as a result of the sword blows also disappeared along with the itch I had on my back since I collided with the tree after being sent flying.
"Yes, that is much better." I said, jumping up, earning the gaze of all the demons, then Sona, who was next to Tsubaki checking on the blonde, approached again.
"You're going to have to explain that"
I knew what she meant and why she was asking, but I decided to play dumb anyway. "Why I should?"
"Because." She began by pushing her glasses away before looking directly at me. "In our first conversation, you said that your first encounter with the supernatural was with Kiba-kun, but now you use unknown techniques, which we let pass for your excuse of "it's something I just feel I can do" which may have some validity, but that." She said pointing to the empty vials in my hand.
"That has no explanation; if what you said was true we should be the only supernatural beings you know, but you still have what are obviously healing potions, so the only thing we can think is that you lied to us when you said that you didn't know the supernatural world until recently and you are some kind of alchemist, or you lied to us saying that you didn't know anyone else from the supernatural world and that it was that person who gave you those potions, so which of the two options will it be?" She asked me, narrowing her eyes.
I looked at her for a few seconds before sighing, from the moment I decided to use these potions I thought this could happen, but I didn't imagine that she would reason it to such an extent.
"Okay, I'll answer your question." I started by raising my index finger. "First, I didn't encounter any members of the supernatural before him." I said pointing to the blonde who was now sitting on the ground.
Then I raised my middle finger. "Second, I didn't make these potions, I don't even know what it contains"
And finally, I raised my ring finger. "And third, they were given to me by someone I don't know. A little over two weeks ago I found a small package in my room after I got home from school, it didn't have a note or anything that referred to who sent it, and when I opened it I found some vials like these and a small note that said to use them only when necessary along with a short explanation that would be summarized in explaining that they are healing potions"
Everyone looked at me without saying a word, most likely trying to discern whether I was lying or not, at least until Rias spoke. "Do you have more?"
I shook my head a few times. "These 2 are among the last ones I had left, 4 were spent to save my life when that spider demon attacked me, I only have a couple more." I explained, that way if I was ever hurt and they saw me use a potion they wouldn't ask anything.
"Would you consider selling one?" Sona asked.
"No, like I said, these potions saved my life once, and it would be a great help to have them as a backup in case I ever find myself in a critical situation"
They both seemed reluctant, but they didn't say anything else, so I decided it was time for Touji, Kirisu-sensei, and I to return home.
Thanks to the potions I was physically fine and had enough energy to do a complete exercise routine, but I was exhausted mentally, and I could feel my mind a little numb, so all I wanted was to lie down and sleep until I finished merging with the sheets and mattress of my bed.
"If that's all then we're leaving." I said gesturing for Touji and Kirisu-sensei to follow me as I turned my back on the demons and started walking.
"Tomorrow will be the first weekly control meeting you will have, so someone will come look for you"
If it had been another occasion I would have protested or at worst, made conditions, but I was feeling a little overwhelmed and didn't want to deal with this now, so all I did was raise my arm and wave it to show that I had heard as I continued walking away.
######
Third Person P.O.V
All the demons watched silently as Ryuichi turned a corner, leaving the field and heading towards the exit with his younger brother and his teacher, and only when they could no longer see him did they speak.
"President, I'm sorry, this was my fault." Kiba, who was now standing, bowed in front of his king.
"No, this was not your fault Yuuto, what he showed at the end of the confrontation was something that none of us expected, although I still don't understand how he did what he did." Rias put a hand on the blonde's shoulder as he waved off the apology, it bothered her that things hadn't gone the way she wanted, but blaming Kiba when she was the one who told him to extend the match to impress Issei would be hypocritical.
"It was a crude strategy, but also very ingenious." Sona expressed her thoughts.
"Did you understand everything he did?" Rias asked, and Sona became the center of attention.
"Yes, and it was a risky 3-part plan with 3 layers of lies." Sona began to explain when she noticed everyone's curiosity.
"First there is that illusion he used along with the increase in speed, an attempt to make it seem like he could attack at least twice as many times in a shorter time than before, but I think you noticed that something was wrong with one of those Ryuichis after dodging a couple of attacks, right?" Sona asked the blonde, earning a nod.
"The one that was an illusion deliberately missed his attacks, either because they were slower or because he was aiming for the place where I was before instead of where I would be"
"And that, despite seeming like an oversight, was done with the intention that you would discover what the illusion was." Sona pushed her glasses away as she explained.
"What?!" Several expressed confusion.
"But wouldn't it be more beneficial if Kiba-kun didn't find out?" Ruruko, a girl who was part of Sona's peerage asked.
"If he had intended to try to overwhelm him psychologically that would be the case, but what he thought was something else, and I know this from the second point, that he shouted the direction from which the blow would come"
Everyone paid attention to this part since it was one of the most confusing.
Sona closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them she spoke again. "Classical conditioning, is a term used in psychology that is used when you want to program, so to speak, a pre-established response of an individual to an action determined by another person"
Everyone remained silent until Issei said something that encompassed the majority's thoughts. "What?"
Sona decided to elaborate a little more. "Simply put, by shouting the direction from which the blows would come he wanted to make Kiba-kun react to his voice after a while, believing that the next blow would come from the direction he would indicate, that way he could take him by surprise by launching an attack from a completely different direction"
This time there was a collective. "Oh." On everyone's part, showing that they had understood.
"But just like before, this was a trap." Sona crossed her arms. "Classical conditioning requires more time to work correctly, in this case, it could distract the target or confuse him a little, but this would only be for a fraction of time, and that would not be enough to achieve a decisive hit." Then she stopped, looking at those listening to her, and nodding when she confirmed that everyone had followed her up to this point.
"And that brings us to the penultimate step and the last trap he used, when the illusion caught your attention and the real one tried to attack, why you decided to block instead of dodge?" She asked Kiba.
"During the entire confrontation he tried to land blows, and although it was possible to dodge them, I blocked some to measure his strength, the one he gave after using his ability to try to blind me with light was the strongest, but not enough to damage my sword, I thought about blocking this last blow since it seemed like it was the last thing he could do and then knock him unconscious with an attack similar to the one I used before." Kiba explained, earning a nod from Sona, who was already expecting such a response.
"If I had to guess I would say that he thought you would do that, or, rather, he bet that you would do it based on what you did before, blocking an attack that came after a distraction, now, you couldn't make eye contact with him when you put your sword in position to block, right?"
Kiba shook his head a few times.
"That confirms it." Sona said to herself. "I could see the expression he made and I read his lips, at the moment just before he hit, and when the sword prevented you from seeing his face he said only two words: I win. You know what that means, right Rias?"
"Everything that happened was part of his plan." Rias admitted after sighing as a sign of defeat.
Sona nodded. "A plan that consisted of at least 4 steps, and 3 of them were lies, making a clearly superior opponent believe that he had discovered his plans, the clone that it was just an illusion, that of false classical conditioning, and a desperate final blow, all to end up achieving its true objective, the window of opportunity to use an abrupt increase in power capable of breaking through the opponent's defenses and connecting a decisive blow." Sona finished nodding. "Smart, but too risky too, one mistake and the whole plan would fall apart"
"D-did he really think about all that while he was fighting?" Issei once again expressed the doubt that everyone had.
Sona denied it a few times. "I couldn't say, but if I had to bet I would say that he began to think of a way to win after the first exchange of blows, he was completely outclassed in terms of combat, Kiba-kun was quite superior in speed, his skill with the sword was much more polished than Ryuichi's martial arts, and his strength was enough to block his attacks without many problems, I'm sure he knew it too, that's why I think he began to build his strategy the moment he noticed it"
Everything remained silent while those present processed what was said, at least until Sona's phone rang indicating that she had received a message, the girl opened her device, and after reading it, she turned around, returned her cell phone to her pocket, and began to walk away. "I'm leaving, something important has come up, I'll call you later Rias." Sona bid her farewell as her peerage followed her.
X-X-X-X-X
Well, this is the very end of the fight, I think it was necessary to make clear what strategy Ryuichi used to show the kind of fighter he is, for now he is weak, that's true, but he is not powerless, once he gets over his initial nervousness he is the type that will use his head to cover up his lack of raw power.
This obviously won't always save him, but it's something that makes a difference to give him some extra personality and not just make him a brute with super strength that just hits things and shoots energy at his enemies.
And I have to warn you about something, at first I had thought that the first chat mission would start a day after this event, but then I realized that that couldn't be done, I need Ryuichi to be present during the events with the fallen angels and Asia, the important thing won't be his participation itself but what he will see during this event, because this is what will mark the direction in which the story will go.
Also, on Wednesday I'll be posting the first 3 chapters of a new story on my p-atreon, it'll be set in the world of Tales of Demons and Gods, and once I have more chapters ready I'll start posting them here as well, if possible please check it out.
Remove the spaces and dash: p-atreon/ Krakenian01
Remember that if you like this story, you can leave a comment, review, and a power stone, that will inspire me to write more, see you in the next chapter.