The Nekomata's tale, Male Nekomata X DxD

Chapter 12: Training Days

(Nobody's POV)

The sweat trickled down Katsu's face as he and the other members of the |Occult Research Club were nearing the end of the incredibly tedious and long journey throughout the peaceful mountains near Rias's family house out here. The heavy weight he was carrying upon his shoulders was not too much for the Nekoshou to bare, but it certainly was not a comforting thing either within this extreme heat. The sun was bright outside and shone down on the people who fell victim to it, and those who forgot to pack the sunscreen, Regardless of the heat Katsu knew that this training was of the utmost importance for all of them. Time was not a privilege  that Team Gremory had in this situation. A meer 10 days was all they got to become strong enough to challenge someone with years of experience and a full peerage too.

Rias was granted permission to use the house located somewhere within the mountains by her family. Katsu never got the chance to officially visit there before, but from what information his adopted mother had passed on to him, it was a nice place. Rias had the entire group march up to the place carrying an assortment of heavy materials in order to boost their strength and overall resilience. Out of all of them, Asia was carrying the lightest load. She was a bishop piece after all, she was not predominantly a main fighter by brute strength within battle, leaning more towards the magical side of combat. Katsu had guessed that Akeno was going to try and teach Asia the basics of magical battle tactics and honing her healing potential. It would be essential to force the Twilight Healing sacred gear to the next stage if possible.

Kiba was carrying the second heaviest amount of the group. The blonde didn't look deterred despite the weight as he walked up the hill with the others. One of his many blades was poking out of the bag, this one was rather long and made of some kind of steel, half of the blade was serrated making it stand out amongst the other blades in his arsenal. It was clear as day however, that he had packed more then one sword, no doubt would he and Katsu begin training their skills within sword battles. While Katsu was indeed a rook, that didn't preclude him from learning the arts of other ways of combat. Besides it may come in handy for the eager to learn Nekoshou.

That left both Koneko and Katsu bearing most of the weight carrying bags that were extremely unproportionate to their bodies, Koneko especially looked tiny in comparison to the huge bag that she was carrying on her back. Regardless of her short height, the silver haired girl was as stoic as ever, not showcasing any signs of weakness as she finally reached the top of the mountain with Katsu following along side her, his bag equally as heavy as hers. Ahri was let out and was currently in her tiny fox form, resting upon Katsu's bag. The Nekoshou always wondered to himself, how powerful was his trust familiar Ahri? And where did her powers manifest from? Or could they be taught to to other people? Those questions would have to wait as the group was finally able to take a breather as they reached the top.

"Alright everyone this is the place where we will be staying for the next 10 days to train to battle Riser. We WILL win I'm determined of that, I expect all of you to train hard and really make the house of Gremory proud" Rias spoke to her servants in a determined and proud tone. The others nodded their head in agreement and headed inside of the place to offload their supplies and get accustomed to their new environments. The area was surrounded by trees and grass, void of anything relating to humans minus their new abode. 2 dark eyes lacking all emotion was peeking out from a nearby tree, staring with intrigue yet boredom at the young devils below. As soon as those eyes showed themselves, they vanished.

Katsu decided to stay in the room that was right next to Koneko and Akeno's. He wanted to be as close to Koneko as he could for not only being near her, but to also be ready at a moments notice to protect her. Katsu secretly hoped over the training sessions, he could convince her to willingly use her Nekoshou form in battle. He had gotten enough progress to the point where she could show her Nekoshou form from time to time in the eyes of the people she trusted deeply. But never too often. Katsu hoped one day she would stop masking who she truly was, and accept the powers she had.