Everyone was silent.
Until Rias slapped Issei, who just looked at the ground.
"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? YOU'RE NOT STRONG ENOUGH ISSEI! HE CAN KILL YOU!"
"... I don't know, Buchou, and I don't care. What I do know is that you won't be happy with him. And to me, your happiness matters the most. YOU saved me from Raynare, you gave me a new life, you protected me. All that matters to me is that you are happy, and for that, I'd even go against god himself if I have to," he said as he looked straight into her eyes with determination.
'GREAT PARTNER! We'll beat that fucking chicken, no worries.'
"I-Issei..." Rias muttered as she hugged him and sobbed.
And then Steve started to clap.
"Yay, it's all a happy ending," he said with a grin as others glared at him, barring Koneko, Issei, and Grayfia.
"How is that happy? Issei is going against a high-class devil, he'll die," Kiba said angrily.
"You think I would let him die?" Steve said seriously as Kiba took a step back.
"I... I did not mean it like that. I was just worried..."
"And I am prepared. He made a grave mistake in giving Issei 10 days. Because in these 10 days, I'm going to make Issei so strong that Riser won't be an issue for him," he said as others gulped.
"I... thanks," Issei said as Steve pat him on the back.
"You're welcome, bro. Plus it was nice to see you finally grow a pair," he said as Issei pouted.
Grayfia cleared her throat as everyone looked at her.
"Now if that is done, I'd like to take my leave," she said as Steve pouted.
"Aww, Grayfia nee, please stay for a while, there's so much I wanna show you," Steve said as Grayfia deadpanned at him.
"Your childishness knows no bounds," she jabbed as Steve pouted.
"Come on, now that your job is done, you can lighten up a little you know," he said as Grayfia grabbed him by the ear and twisted it.
"OUCH OUCH OUCH! UNLIKE SIRZECHS I AM NOT A MASOCHIST!" he yelled as Grayfia blushed.
"Uh... how are you and him so close Grayfia?" asked Rias, confused as to what was happening.
"Ah right, Rias sama, I see you're well acquainted with Steve sama here," she said as Steve released a bit of his power.
"Stop adding SAMA AFTER MY NAME! I thought we were close," Steve said with comical tears.
"R-right, so Steve is very close to me and Sirzechs sama, and also your parents. We all hold him in great regard," Grayfia said as Steve smiled brightly.
"Yeah, we're really close. Should I start calling you Onee sama, Rias senpai?"
"E-eh?"
"RIAS ONEE SAN!"
"HEY, BACK OFF MAN!" yelled Issei as the rest giggled.
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Issei was standing in front of Steve's mansion.
'From today, my training starts...' he thought as he rang the bell.
"Welcome to my humble abode," he heard a voice behind him, surprising him as he jumped and squealed.
"Your scream is really high-pitched dude, you sure you're not a girl?"
"I-I'm not! You can check it!"
"... HAH, GAYYYYYYYY!"
"But I'm not? You saw me simping for Buchou," Issei deadpanned.
"It's a meme you donut!"
"Gordon Ramsay?"
"Yes"
"I see..."
"You made it fucking awkward," Steve deadpanned as the author could feel the awkwardness of the failed joke radiating from the screen.
"Aaanywayyys, so your training. You packed stuff up for 9 days?"
"Yes sir!"
"Good, I'll show you your room, and the training area is protected by barriers, we're going to have to beat you into shape," he said with a smirk that promised pain and suffering.
"... Scary," Issei muttered with a shiver running down his spine, as he entered the gates.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Issei was done with the 'Basic' stamina and endurance training, and was panting furiously when Steve gave him four bracelet-like things.
"These are weights you will have all the time except when you rest," he told him as Issei groaned.
"Now, Partial Domain: Terra Immortui," he muttered with crossing his middle and index finger as bright light engulfed them.
"H-huh?" Issei stuttered as the scenery around him changed.
"Well, Domain expansion is a Jujutsu Technique, the Pinnacle of sorcery. This is a partial Domain, and I named it Terra Immortui since it's Latin for Land of Zombies, and it sounded cool," Steve explained, covering up his Dungeon creation ability.
"O-oh... that still doesn't e-explain why w-we're here," Issei muttered nervously, hoping it was not what he was thinking.
"Why? Training, of course, your objective is to survive, you will get no help from me, and you can die here," Steve said as Issei paled.
"B-bu-"
"If you don't get serious, you will die, and that by the hand of Riser. So you need to understand. IF you die here, then I'd duel in your place. I am making sure that Rias doesn't suffer in any way. So try your best to survive," he told Issei who gulped. The next moment, Steve had disappeared.
"Isn't 500 zombies a little overkill?" asked Gil as they both stood on the mountain cliff looking over the area of action where Zombies had started spawning.
"Eh, unless he really believes that his life is in danger, he can't break through his own limits. If we would have let this be solved by the usual Rating Game method, and Rias trained him, he would be strong, but not strong enough," Steve explained as he watched over Issei trying to run away from the horde of Zombies.
"HERE TAKE THIS!" yelled Steve as he tossed a crowbar.
"AIM FOR THE HEAD, DON'T PULL A THOR AGAINST THEM!"
"FUCK YOU STEVE!"
"DON'T SWING THAT WAY!"
And with that, the torture began.
Three days had passed, and Issei was starved, thirsty, and exhausted, still running from the zombies.
"F-fuck! Why is t-the drop still not here? A-and when will this stop?"
"Partner, we need to focus. You've been doing decently well, with the hit-and-run tactics. Now we need to completely annihilate the zombies at once, and for that, I think that move will be perfect for it," Ddraig told Issei who nodded.
"A-alright, we need the smell of blood, and a sound to attract them," Issei muttered.
On the First day, Issei just ran away like a scared child, yelling for help. However, when it sunk in that no help was coming, he became much more daring, since if he was gonna die anyways, he'd go out with a bang.
He noticed that each day, three supply crates dropped from the sky like in those games, and they contained food, water, and potions that decently healed him. So for the next two days, he continued to hunt for the zombies while talking with Ddraig.
"DAMNIT! WHAT FUCKING TYPE OF TRAINING IS THIS?" he muttered under his breath as the gauntlet appeared on his hand.
"12 times, that means 120 seconds. We can't waste even one second, right Ddraig?"
"Right. Since the more you boost, the greater the strain on your body, we shouldn't have that much power stored at once. Even if you have greatly improved, even a second is too much in this domain," Ddraig said as Issei started running.
"OI ZOMBIES! HERE!" he yelled while running at top speed, before getting to a far-off place and cutting a bit of his hand to draw some blood out.
"O-okay... he muttered as he dabbed a cloth on it multiple times before drinking a potion that stopped the bleeding. He then proceeded to wrap the cloth on a warm piece of meat before throwing it toward the zombies.
He then jumped back and he threw small stones near where the meat was, as the zombies were attracted to it.
'Warm meat makes the scent of blood stronger! With this, they should be confused,' he thought as he watched the zombies flock around it.
There were over 150 zombies in less than a minute around it, as a few more walked slowly.
"30 more seconds," Issei muttered, watching them scream and search for him.
"Partner, get even farther, or we'll be in the blast radius," Ddraig advised as Issei silently backed away.
'Five, four, three, two... LET'S GO!'
A ball of pure energy formed in his hand as he grit his teeth, aiming his hand towards the zombie.
"Now... DIE!" he yelled as a beam shot from his hand, hitting the ground, destroying all the zombies, and throwing Issei back a lot.
"AAAAAH!" he yelled as he thrashed in the air, trying to come to a stop.
"SHIT! It seems your stats have gone significantly higher, since the blast was bigger than what I thought. It's a good thing, but you need to do something if you want to survive," Ddraig told him.
"Don't worry, I'm here," came Steve's voice as Issei felt himself being grabbed and then a weird sensation came over him.
"H-huh?" he muttered, as he found himself on the top of the mountain, in the air held by Steve. He was then dropped, his butt making contact with the ground, making him groan.
"Wow, this was faster than I expected," Steve complimented as Issei looked at him, unable to comprehend anything.
"I-it's over? I did it?"
"Hai, you did it, and now it's time to leave," Steve told him before the world around them disappeared, and they found themselves back in the gym, the sun visible from the window.