Wrought Iron Devil: Gate of Blades

Preparation

"On your left."

"Yeah, I know." Issei groaned as he continued up the incline with a packed backpack. However it was smaller than what you and Kiba were carrying. And Koneko? Forget it.

However, you were now going to be the first one up the incline, where Rias and Akeno were waiting. Rias had dictated that the first to hike to the hill at their position would be allowed some rest while the rest caught up. The order of who went first began with Issei with a thirty minute head start. Up till this point, the remaining three had been neck and neck as they closed in on Issei. How did you get ahead?

Well, Rias did not say anything about reinforcement for your body. Besides, Issei had a head start. Koneko already had natural strength. Kiba was fast, even impeded. You had been tiring before you figured the whole exercise was never fair to begin with. Reinforcing the back and legs, concealed by clothes, instantly made it that much easier.

And now it rewarded you by reaching the seniors first.

"Nicely done, (Y/n)." Rias complemented. "Take a breather."

You nodded while ending your magic and began walking to Akeno who had a water bottle in hand. But as she handed the water over, she made to whisper in your ear.

"We know you used magic, sweetie. We can sense it you know."

You froze, dreading the next words to come.

"But it also counts towards training. Keep it up, bad boy."

You relaxed. As you began rehydrating, you observed Kiba and Koneko also overtake Issei. That last one had the Pawn recoil in surprise before he lost his balance and fell over.

"This sucks!" Issei cried out as he remain turtle'd.

"That's the point, Issei." You said to him. "Embrace the suck."

"What does that it even mean?!"

"It means deal with it, loser" Koneko deadpanned.

"Let's take a different approach." You suggested. "Issei, roll yourself over."

With no other option, the pawn rolled onto his stomach.

"Now get to your feet, slowly."

He did so, the slow pacing giving him enough time to correct to any imbalance to his center of gravity.

"Now move. Left foot. Right foot. Left. Right. Left. Left right on left." You called out in cadence. Issei managed to synchronize his footsteps to your call outs. And within thirty seconds, he was up.

"There you go." You said in stern congratulations. "Tackling a problem is much easier when you go one step at a time."

Timeskip

Usually when you go to a place for training, you expect something more akin to a sporting facility, campsite or something akin to a military base. Apparently the Gremory version was a full on mansion isolated in the forested areas away from town. That put a bit of dent into the narrative that the ORC club had gone on a camping trip. Because ANY form of house, trailer or RV is NOT CAMPING!

But as a place to stay for training, it fit the basic requirements. Quarters to sleep in. Plenty of spaces and terrain for different exercises and a indoor gym if needed. And admittedly, a spa section was a nice touch.

But now was the time to begin Lesson 1 as the president put it.

Said lesson had Kiba as the instructor with a wooden practice sword. Immediately, you smiled in anticipation. Whatever the lesson, swordplay was always a welcome activity. Sadly, you were not first one to spar.