Rod really had no idea how to teach Rias to master the Power of Destruction.
If it came to teaching combat techniques, he had some experience, but a power like the Power of Destruction, something only a handful of people possessed, was completely outside his understanding.
So all he could do was copy the all-purpose formula used by those spiritual mentors in movies.
Whenever the protagonist wanted to grow stronger but had no idea how, someone would say a line like that, and the protagonist would suddenly explode in strength like they'd popped Viagra, then pin the opponent they couldn't beat before to the ground and grind them into dust.
Rod had no idea whether it actually worked.
But that was how they always did it on TV.
Still, seeing Rias start to look doubtful, Rod couldn't let his reputation as a gold-medal mentor take a hit.
So he pointed toward a mountain in the distance and said, "How about this? Use your Power of Destruction on that mountain. Once you can shave off the entire peak in a single strike, that'll mean you've begun to truly grasp your power."
"That mountain?"
Rias followed the direction of his finger, and her heart immediately started wavering.
Kuoh was surrounded on three sides by mountains, and the outskirts were lined with continuous ranges, so in the past she had occasionally brought her peerage here to relax and enjoy themselves.
Compared to truly famous mountains, these peaks weren't anything special, but the one Rod was pointing at was still about the size of a city office building.
That big, and he wanted her to destroy it in one hit?
Wasn't that a joke?
"It's that big... can I really do it?"
Rias looked hesitant, wondering whether Rod had pointed at the wrong one.
After all, the mountain right beside it was much smaller.
She felt that if she put in the effort, she could at least destroy the top of that smaller peak.
"Yes, that one. If you can't even destroy a mountain that small, then what right do you have to call yourself an Upper-Class Devil?"
Rod spoke as if this were the most natural thing in the world.
"Don't use your own standards to argue with me. Just because other Upper-Class Devils slack off, does that mean you get to slack off too? And you're a wielder of the Power of Destruction. You were born starting higher than everyone else. If you can't even do this much, then don't take me as your teacher anymore."
After saying that, Rod looked down into Rias's eyes.
The girl froze, and a look of shame immediately appeared on her delicate face.
Why had she doubted Rod's judgment again just now?
She was the one who had shamelessly come asking for his guidance.
Thinking of that, Rias nodded seriously at Rod.
"I understand, Mr. Rod!"
"How about this? Just imagine that mountain is your current fiancé. Doesn't that make you feel much more motivated?"
"..."
Hearing Rod say that, Rias once again pictured Riser's obnoxious face in her mind. When she looked at the mountain again, her beautiful face was full of anger and fighting spirit.
With that, Rias spread her devil wings and flew into the sky, then began gathering the Power of Destruction while aiming at the mountain.
A deep crimson aura of magic ignited around her, and she raised both hands, drawing out as much of her power as she could. Then a dark red sphere, around a meter in diameter, shot toward the mountain.
It tore a scorching wave through the air before colliding with the rock face.
There was no violent explosion, nor any blinding light. The stone that came into contact with the Power of Destruction melted away with terrifying ease and vanished into nothingness.
Seeing that scene, Rod couldn't help sighing in admiration at just how ridiculous the Power of Destruction really was.
While everyone else was still playing with explosions, the Power of Destruction was already using its properties to erase the opponent from existence.
It was the perfect combination of raw force and broken mechanics.
The fact that Rias had neglected something like this and specialized in housekeeping instead was simply a tragic waste of talent.
If it had been Sona in her place, she probably would have already reached the peak of Upper-Class Devil by this age.
Even so, this attack from Rias still fell short of Rod's requirement.
The mountain had only had a little under half of it melted away, while Rias had already used seventy to eighty percent of her magic.
Rias clearly wasn't satisfied with that result. After coming back down and resting for a while, then recovering most of her magic, she started gathering power for a second attempt.
Rod only watched for a bit before taking out his phone, scrolling through short videos while casually keeping an eye on the girls' training.
That said, Rias really did have a lot of potential.
Between the first and second attacks, the destructive range of her Power of Destruction had increased, even if only by a very slight amount.
At the moment, Rias still wasn't particularly strong. It would be more accurate to say she was only in the budding stage, her combat strength still extremely unstable. Rod remembered that in the anime, when she went with Akeno and Koneko to deal with a plant-type monster, as an Upper-Class Devil, she not only failed to eliminate it instantly, she was instead caught by its tentacles and had her clothes dissolved by some unknown liquid.
Although she eventually managed to destroy it afterward, she still ended up in a very sorry state.
There was also that later incident with the ancient mummy, where she was again forced into dancing a bizarre Egyptian-style dance before the matter was resolved.
As for everything that followed, Rias's enthusiasm for training had always remained lukewarm. In most incidents, only the original protagonist, the Red Dragon Emperor, could resolve things on his own, while she was left dealing with little more than minor underlings.
If you changed her personality, she'd practically have the same temperament as her current fiancé Riser, completely content to loaf around.
Fortunately, Rias had turned back before it was too late.
Rod had only given her a few casual pointers, and she was already improving. That alone was enough to astonish people, enough to surpass the vast majority of pure-blooded Upper-Class Devils in the Underworld.
Not to mention, her brother had reached the level of a Super Devil through the Power of Destruction alone. There was no way Rias's talent could possibly be low.
If she could truly master the Power of Destruction, then forget Super Devil, at the very least, reaching Serafall's level would be more than possible.
Rod didn't really have any particularly brilliant advice to give her, but since her way of developing the Power of Destruction was to increase its scale and raw force, which was completely different from Sirzechs's technical style, then as long as she was willing to put in the work, increasing its power was absolutely possible.
It was like an ordinary person practicing the sword.
At first, you wouldn't learn flashy moves. You'd start from the most basic slash, over and over again.
The skill gained from swinging a sword once and swinging it ten thousand times was worlds apart.
After moving his attention away from Rias, Rod finally settled down to focus on short videos.
Before long, though, he felt a finger poke him in the back.
When he turned around, he saw a cardboard box with two holes cut into it.
"I smell the aura of a shut-in nerd."
"Mm... Mr. Rod, I... I don't want to be a shut-in anymore! I've already decided to change!"
A muffled, weak voice came from inside the box. It sounded like the kind of voice that might burst into tears at any second.
"I... I want to become stronger too. I want to train too! I want to become strong like President and Akeno-senpai and the others."
"So... Mr. Rod, c-can you give me special training too?"
"I heard you, shut-in. If you want to master your power, then you need to follow your heart."
"?"
Gasper looked confused.
Hadn't he heard that line somewhere before?
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