I woke up early, staring at my ceiling while Sona's words from yesterday kept looping in my head.
Trust isn't demanded, it's earned.
Something about that made me feel warm inside. I shook my head. No time to get distracted.
"Focus, Leon," I muttered, throwing off my blankets and heading to shower.
The cold water hit me hard, waking me up instantly. Perfect. I needed a clear head today.
With Azazel gone on "business", I had the whole day to myself.
The underground training room was dead quiet as I locked the door behind me.
I stripped down to my training pants and sat cross-legged in the middle of the room.
I closed my eyes and pulled the Body of the Everflame manual from my inventory.
The book appeared in my hands. Its pages glowed with a soft golden light.
"Alright," I sighed, opening to the section I'd been stuck on for weeks. "Let's try this again."
My progress wasn't the problem—I was definitely getting stronger. I moved faster, hit harder, and healed quicker than any normal human. But something was missing. There was this barrier I couldn't break through.
According to the manual, there was a stage where the mana in my body would start actively reshaping it, making my muscles better, bones stronger, and every part of me.
But I kept hitting a wall.
"What am I missing?" I mumbled, flipping through pages I'd read a hundred times.
My eyes caught on a line I'd seen before but never really understood:
"The flame seeks not control, but surrender. In the moment of yielding, true strength is born."
Just because I created the manual using the workshop doesn't mean I am easily able to understand it outside of it.
"Screw it," I said, snapping the book shut. "Let's try something different."
I set the manual aside and closed my eyes, focusing on my mana core. I could feel it pulsing like a second heartbeat inside me.
Instead of pulling the mana out in controlled streams like usual, I took a deep breath and just... let go.
For a second, nothing happened.
Then—
"Holy shit!"
My eyes snapped open, but I wasn't seeing the training room anymore. Everything looked golden, like I was seeing through flame-colored glasses. I could actually see the mana now—not just feel it—flowing through my body in bright rivers of light.
"Surrender," I gasped, finally getting it.
The mana wasn't just flowing through me anymore, it was rewriting me from the inside out. I could feel it seeping between cells, adding layers of energy to my bones, rebuilding my muscles to be more powerful.
I lost track of time. It could've been minutes or hours, I couldn't tell. But when the gold finally faded from my vision and I came back to myself, I felt... completely new.
I looked at my hands. They looked the same, but they weren't. Nothing was. Every inch of me had been forged like metal in fire.
Slowly, I stood up. The movement felt weird—too easy, too light. I felt like I should be heavier with all this power packed inside me.
"Let's test this," I whispered, turning to the reinforced training dummy in the corner.
I didn't use Mana Burst. Didn't add any extra energy. I just... moved.
My fist hit the dummy, and the impact shook the whole room. The dummy just disintegrated, sending concrete dust and steel fragments flying everywhere. This didn't happen before.
"What the hell..."
A laugh bubbled up, half shock and half excitement. This was what the manual was trying to tell me. Control was necessary, but surrender was transformation.
I needed to test more.
I called a simple sword from my inventory, one of the disposable steel ones I used for practice. It appeared in my hand, gleaming in the light.
Without using any active mana, I swung it through the air. The blade moved so fast it left faint afterimages. When I stopped, I looked at the sword.
The metal was glowing red-hot just from the speed of the swing.
I spent the next few hours testing everything, pushing limits I didn't know I had. Speed that let me cross the room in a blink. Strength that bent metal like paper. Reflexes so sharp I could catch falling debris mid-air.
And through it all, my mana core barely dipped despite everything I was doing.
"Fuck," I panted, not from exhaustion but from the pure rush. "I just leveled up big time."
—
The next few days were weirdly peaceful, just me training during the day and playing chess with Sona in the afternoons.
I should've known better than to enjoy it. Whenever things start feeling normal in my life, the universe seems to take it as a personal challenge to fuck everything up.
And right on cue, it delivered.
I was in the training room early Monday morning, working through the new techniques I'd discovered since my breakthrough. The place still showed signs of damage despite the hasty repairs, but at least it wasn't a complete disaster zone anymore.
"Impressive progress," came Azazel's voice from the doorway. "You've been busy while I was gone."
I turned, wiping sweat from my forehead. "I thought you weren't coming back until tomorrow."
"Plans change," he said with that irritating smirk of his. "Besides, I brought you a present."
That's when I noticed he wasn't alone.
There was someone standing slightly behind him—a guy about my age with silver hair and cold blue eyes. He was dressed in casual clothes, hands in his pockets, looking at me with the bored expression of someone forced to attend a party they had zero interest in.
But underneath that boredom was something else. Something dangerous.
The moment our eyes met, I felt it—power. Raw, ancient power that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. My mana core reacted instinctively, pulsing in response to the threat.
I knew who this was before Azazel even opened his mouth.
"Leon, meet Vali. Vali Lucifer."
Fuck.
Vali Lucifer. The White Dragon Emperor. Wielder of Divine Dividing. Descendant of the original Lucifer. Walking disaster with daddy issues.
And possibly the strongest person in my age group in the entire DxD universe.
"This is who you wanted me to meet?" Vali asked Azazel, his voice flat with disappointment. "He doesn't look like much."
"Appearances can be deceiving," Azazel chuckled. "Why don't you two get acquainted? I'm sure you'll find some common ground."
I shot Azazel a glare that could've melted steel. "What exactly is happening here?"
"Training," Azazel said simply. "You've progressed nicely on your own, but theory only gets you so far. You need practical experience against someone who can challenge you."
I raised my brow at that. To be honest, I needed it; Azazel was not a good sparring partner; our strength differences were massive.
Vali's expression didn't change, but something flickered in his eyes. Interest, maybe. Or annoyance. Hard to tell with this guy.
"I was told you might provide a decent sparring match," he said coolly. "Though I'm starting to doubt that."
The dismissal in his tone sparked something in me.
"You might be surprised," I said, matching his cool tone.
Vali's lips curved into the ghost of a smile. "I doubt it. But I'm willing to be proven wrong."
Azazel clapped his hands together, looking far too pleased with himself. "Excellent! Rules are simple: no lethal force, training area boundaries only, and I reserve the right to step in if things get out of hand."
"Wait, we're doing this now?" I asked.
"No time like the present," Azazel replied. "Unless you're not feeling up to it?"
The challenge was clear. Back down now, and I'd never hear the end of it. Plus, Vali would write me off completely.
"Fine," I said, rolling my shoulders. "Let's do this."
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Author's Note:
Just a quick heads-up. when it comes to what items I choose to manifest in this story, it's all based on what I feel what I would be doing in that situation or moment.
I know it might not line up with everyone's preferences, and for that, I apologize if it doesn't hit your personal wishlist. Still, thanks for sticking around anyway.
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If you'd like to read ahead and support me, feel free to check it out: [email protected]/VashFF