Hard Work Beats Talent (High School DxD x OC)

Chapter 2: Enter The Master

"Thank you so much for the assistance, miss Pendragon! You truly are the best!" Ed loudly declares with nothing short of total respect and admiration, beaming at the blonde-haired witch as he hops out of her Magic Circle with a spring in his step. 

Even though she is quite used to the fact that Ed will passionately thank her (or any other person) for every little she does for him, Le Fay couldn't help but feel embarrassed with praise as her cheeks slightly flushed pink at his compliment. "I-It's all in good faith, Sakari! No need to be so dramatic over something like this. You couldn't use Kuroka's Circle, so it is only fair that I help you out." 

"Nonsense! It is thanks to you that I and Kuroka may carry out our sparring match! For that, I cannot thank you enough!" Ed spins on his toes before stopping in front of Le Fay to give her a thumbs up with both hands. Satisfied to see that Le Fay has no comebacks, he takes a walk around to inspect their soon-to-be sparring ground, all while stuffing his hands in his pockets.

From what he could see, they are currently standing on a featureless glade with only rocks and a couple of weed patches scattered here and there, albeit with a multitude of trees of variable sizes (mostly tall) surrounding them from a distance, forming a ring. It appears that they are in a forest of sorts. 

Finishing up his inspection, Ed cracks a wide grin in great satisfaction. This place should be more than big enough for their match.

Just then, he notices a familiar column of violet light at the corner of his left eye, and turned around to greet his feline opponent with a dramatic bow not unlike that of a showman. "Ah, you have arrived my greatest sparring partner! And just on time too!"

Kuroka yawned as she gives her good arm a stretch, which may-or-may-not have accidentally further pushes out her stupendous cleavage for everything under the sun to see before strutting towards Ed, her hips swaying back and forth sensually. "Why do you have to pick such a bright place, nya...? It's still night back home." She bemoans tiredly, rubbing her eyes with both hands to adjust them to the sudden change in brightness.

"My utmost apologies, greatest sparring partner!" Ed claps his hands together and bowed apologetically, a sheepish smile adorning his face. "But this is the location that Le Fay has picked out for us, and it fits all the requirements for our spirited spar as well! Open, flat and without a single soul in sight to be affected by collateral damage!" Twirling on the spot with one leg raised like a professional ballerina, he flashes Kuroka another one of his million-watt smiles which was further punctuated with a thumbs up.

If it hasn't been made more than clear now, Ed loves giving out smiles and thumbs ups as a heartfelt presentation of his larger-than-life 'fire of spirit', a concept which nobody but Ed himself and a select few knew what it is.

A soft laugh escaped Kuroka, before the Nekoshou points a finger at somewhere behind Ed with an amused expression. "Well...there's actually a soul in sight. Several of them actually, nya."

"What?!" Horrified that they may endanger someone with their upcoming session, Ed makes a sharp turnaround...and saw that the 'souls' Kuroka was referring to be a flock of birds, pecking the ground and generally minding their own business. "Oh no! Vacate the area immediately, birds! I implore you!" He said, futilely trying to communicate to the group of avians while flailing his arms around to shoo them off.

Fortunately, the birds took the hint and quickly evacuated the premise without much hassle, flying further away until they are naught but colorful specks in the blue sky. Ed eyed them as they took flight, before jogging back to his sparring partner's side with a face of relief. "Glad that they listened to me! I would hate it if we hurt the birds by accident."

Kuroka slightly raised her eyebrows. Initially, she planned to tease Ed by calling him out since by 'soul', he meant people and thus discriminating against the various sentient wildlife that occupy the forest around them. However, now that she saw him going out of his way to shoo the birds to safety, she felt that her now-discarded joke to be in rather poor taste for suggesting that someone like Ed could even tolerate harming animals, accident or not. "You're too kind for your own good, nya."