"Hey idiot, wake up!"
Issei half-opened his eyes to the warm sunlight streaming through a narrow gap. As he came to his senses, he noticed Reynare shaking him. "What do you want? Stop being annoying."
"Annoying, me?!" Reynare glared at him with murderous intent. "Anyway, fool, you need to wake up for training. Your body won't strengthen itself."
"I know. The Boosted Gear requires a physique worthy of it," Issei muttered as he slowly sat up. "For now, I can't do much."
"Your tricks and seals won't last forever, brat. You need to wise up," the fallen angel grumbled. Issei just laughed in response.
"For now, they work just fine." Reynare frowned at his words. "Anyway, get out of the room. I want to change."
"Oh, are you scared I'll see you naked? Or that I'll see how small you are?" Reynare asked with obvious mocking sarcasm.
"If you're that eager to see me naked, you don't need to resort to cheap sarcasm, Reynare," the boy replied with a grin that irritated the fallen angel.
Reynare had an overwhelming urge to wipe that stupid smile off his face. There was just no way to shut this kid up.
________
"You're insane!" Issei shouted as Reynare chased him through an empty field on the outskirts of Kuoh.
"This is the best way to build your endurance," Reynare replied, clearly enjoying tormenting him.
The fallen angel conjured small spears of light and hurled them at Issei, who had to sprint to avoid getting hit.
Issei closed his eyes, trying to focus during the brief moment Reynare paused her assault. Suddenly, a crimson gauntlet appeared on his right hand, emitting a green glow. "The Boosted Gear?" Reynare was stunned.
[Boost!]
Issei's power doubled, and the gauntlet emitted this sound. The boy realized that not only his power but also his speed had increased.
He thought he could redirect the Boosted Gear's energy into his body—this time, he focused it into his legs to move faster.
Reynare watched, slightly surprised by Issei's sudden acceleration, but she only needed to flap her wings faster to catch up.
'This is something I remember from the original series. It should work.' Issei skidded to a halt and stared defiantly at Reynare.
"Why did you stop, idiot?! Who gave you permission?" the fallen angel glared at him in annoyance, but Issei didn't answer right away.
In his mind, he visualized his energy as a flowing river. Now, he wanted to concentrate it into the palm of his hand—like building a dam to gather all that power in one place.
Once again, he drew inspiration from the Kamehameha. To him, that technique represented absolute power.
"Dragon Explosion!" Issei shouted, unleashing a burst of energy toward Reynare, whose eyes widened in shock.
Reynare crossed her arms in an X-shape to block the attack, getting slightly pushed back by the force of the Sekiryūtei's (Red Dragon Emperor) strike.
Issei watched with a faint smirk before collapsing, exhausted. He had poured most of his energy into that attack. "See? I've got more than one trick."
Deep down, Reynare was impressed. Though the attack didn't deal much damage to her, it could easily take out a low-ranking fallen angel. She didn't want to admit it, but Issei had surprised her.
"Hmph, not bad. But if you want to defeat someone, you'll have to do much better." Reynare descended to his level and offered a hand to help him up.
"Wow, you helping me? This is weird," Issei teased. Reynare immediately let go, causing him to fall back to the ground.
"Idiot." The fallen angel dusted off her hands and crossed her arms under her bust. "Tonight, we're going hunting. Let's test your skills."
"Hunting?" Issei asked, struggling to get up on his own.
"That's right. Stray demons have been appearing lately. They shouldn't be a problem for you, right?" Reynare glanced at him sideways.
"Of course not. Remember, I have the power to slay gods," Issei boasted as he stood up.
"Right now, you couldn't even beat me, delusional fool," the girl mocked with a smug smile.
"Who do you think sealed you a few days ago?" Issei scoffed. Reynare tried to hit him for that remark.
_____________
Issei was in class, currently mulling over an idea that had come to him after running out of energy from using Dragon Explosion.
His idea was a method to quickly recover energy. In battle, he couldn't afford to be exhausted—enemies would pounce on him immediately.
So, he had two ideas: The first was something already practiced in this universe—Senjutsu. It involved controlling the flow of Ki, the energy of life. But instead of using it offensively, he would manipulate that flow to replenish his own life energy when depleted.
The second idea was to create magic pills, similar to the Senzu Beans from Dragon Ball. This could be achieved sooner since mastering Senjutsu would require learning the basics of Ki control, which would take time.
'I'll ask Reynare to help me with this. I don't think anything like this exists in the supernatural world. I could trade these pills for treasures or information.'
Issei imagined exchanging hundreds of pills for a holy sword or a divine weapon like the Chains of Heaven from Gilgamesh, capable of binding gods. Just the thought sent shivers down his spine.
The entire universe of Draconis and Deus—and all its alternate realities—would be under his feet. Just wait and see.