The Stars Above

Chapter 16

Written in 2021-2022, uploaded to Wattpad on 12/24/2022

Oops uploaded the last two in the wrong order, should be fixed.

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Wooden blades clashed as Kuraima and Ai Sore charged at one another, locked in a state of battle.

Ai was fast, but thanks to his incomplete Balance Breaker, and the fact that he'd trained with Kiba now and again, Kuraima was able to react to his opponent's honed reflexes.

Thanks to his training, he was able to stay in Astral Page for up to five minutes, which didn't sound like much compared to his initial limit of three. However, in a fight, minutes can be quite a long time.

"Haaaaaah!" The two swung at one another once more with great vigor.

Crack!

Their blades finally gave in, flying off to the sides as the stress caused them to reach a breaking point.

"Welp. Guess that's that." Kuraima said, scratching his head and dispelling his armor.

Sore chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose it is. Good fight, by the way." She bowed down politely. "I have seen for myself the great power that you wield. I look forward to learning from you."

Kuraima cringed inwardly, hiding the mental anguish with an awkward smile.

"Y...Yeah. Sure. Me too."

Wiping the sweat off of his brow, he grabbed a nearby bottle of water and gulped it down.

Looking around, he saw the gangsters sitting around, exhausted after giving it their all to improve themselves.

'Nah, Nah...I guess they're my gangsters now.'

"Hey."

Kuraima turned around to see one of Champ holding a fresh bottle of water.

"Oh, uh, thanks."

As he greedily gulped down some cooler, more refreshing water, Champ averted her gaze, crossing her arms.

"Don't think anything of it."

The Astral Student pulled the bottle away to look at her. "I'm definitely gonna think something of it."

"Ah, Kuraima-sensei sure has a way with words, does he not? To so easily see through your voice and then slice right through them." Ai Sore suddenly interjected, blindsiding the two.

Champ's face turned a light shade of pink. "What is that supposed to mean...??"

"Eh. Who knows?" Kuraima shrugged. "I sure don't."

"Such brutal honesty, I must say!"

Kuraima tilted his head, looking at Ai Sore with an unamused look. 'Okay, now you're just being both an asshole and a bootlicker.'

A small wisp of pink flame floated between Mochi's large mandibles as she, in her wyrm form, practiced her ability to manipulate her strange fire breath.

Wyrms were a species of dragon, so nobody was really surprised that Mochi had such an ability in the first place.

What nobody did expect though, was how strong her flames were for a being of her apparent age. They had no idea how Mochi got one of Kuoh's greenhouses, one of those reserved for biology classes, but it turns out she had a pollen allergy.

One of the resulting sneezes had flash-molten a few panes of glass in that greenhouse, destroying several magical enhancements that had been placed upon them by the Devils.

Whoops.

So now here was Kuraima, training Mochi on how to control her flames...by using her to roast marshmallows in his backyard.

....While wearing Matilda's welding gear. In rather warm weather.

He was sweating up a storm as he held the white fluffy treat just out of the Wyrm's reach with a pair of tongs usually reserved for handling molten ingots of steel and iron in a blacksmith's forge, and even those had started to give in after multiple exposures to the vibrant pink flames of destruction.

But Mochi was getting better and better by the day. She was finally learning how to control her flames, to the point that she could roast marshmallows without burning them to a crisp.

"That'll do."

The pink wisps of fire dissipated as Kuraima pulled up the welding mask, blowing on the roasted treat to cool it down as Mochi slithered up like a puppy, eager for a treat.

"Careful. It's still hot." He lowered the tongs into Mochi's range, allowing the Wyrm to snap forwards like a snake, sinking her pincers into the marshmallow. "...Not that it'd be a problem for a dragon-ish thing like you, I guess."

It was amusing to sit there and watch as the little worm tore into the half-melted confectionary.

"Heya, kiddo." Matilda said, sitting down next to the Astral Champion. "Being a mob boss is kinda tough, isn't it?"