Issei Demigod of Olympus

First Contact

( Underworld, Gremory Territory)

" What do you mean Issei is gone?" Azazel asked, having arrived with Sona and her peerage to disguise the plans for the summer holiday, mainly the training and the potential of winning a competition at the end of the holiday hosted for Rias, Sona and other young high ranked devils like them. This had been put to the side for now, as the group now instead needed to figure where Issei had run off to. He was vital in the training efforts put forth by Azazel." We do not know. He ran off yesterday, without saying a word or leaving behind a clue as to why he did it."

Rias's answer was met with a tinge of doubt by Azazel and Sona, but neither raised an objection, instead they let it be for now." I see, so then what will we do about the training schedule you had planned for us, Azazel?" Sona spoke sternly, finding the lack of a trainer for most of peerage to be concerning. Issei had promised to train Saji, Yura and Meguri, as both he and them were marital combatants, but that was not likely gonna happen now." I will figure something out, I got a few people who can cover for Issei." Azazel answered swiftly.

" Who?" Rias asked." You'll see. By the way, Irina, you will be training with Tannin in the mountains."," WHAT?!" Irina yelled at the unsurprised face of Azazel. He smirked, then said." You have already beaten Issei once, Tannin won't be that much of a hurdle."," I beat him when he was severely handicapped!" Irina answered back, metaphorically shitting herself at the thought of fighting Tanning again. And alone this time. Koneko stepped forward, before speaking in her stoic voice." I wouldn't-" She popped her right arm joint. It sounded loud and ghastly, like it was broken or had been turned to dust."- call that severely handicapped."

" Okay, maybe severely handicapped, but still! I can't beat him without handicaps, so there's no way I can beat Tannin." She was rather stubborn about how unlikely it was to win against Tannin, making Azazel, even Ddraig, laugh a bit." What's so funny?"," He'll be training you, not fighting you.. Maybe a little bit of fighting, but that's just how dragons train other dragons." Irina had been taught a few things by Ddraig, mainly the reasons behind his and Albion's rivalry and her abilities. Another thing he had mentioned once, was that training a dragon, even if they were only a dragon because of their sacred gear, was a difficult task.

Sure, Issei could train her for all of her life and she would get stronger just like anyone would. But she's a dragon and has slowly become more and more like one, for each fight she won and the abilities she had gotten. Issei was a good starting place, but to truly unlock her potential, she would need a dragon to train her.' But can I really get stronger if I'm knocked unconscious by one blow?',' Don't worry, Tannin is a great mentor, always has been since I first met him. He knows how to train others, even if they can't yet see how themselves.' Another wise pep talk from Ddraig.

" Then shouldn't I also be training with Tannin?" Saji asked. He had been hyping himself up with having Issei as his trainer, but hearing now that only Irina was getting the dragon training, got him a bit ticked off. He was a dragon too, thanks to his sacred gear and Sona had also told him a lot of things about how best to improve himself beyond normal training." Trust me, you won't like the outcome if you and Irina went there together. Not to mention the training wouldn't be as effective.. Plus the side effects could get you killed." Azazel seemed to sweat a bit at the thought of these side effects he poorly tried to hide. It was almost comical, since nearly everyone there had good hearing thanks to their devils sides, not to mention they were all standing rather close.

" What are these side effects?" Rias curiously asked, receiving no answer, but instead a piece of paper, on which was scribbled a few notes. A quick blush, shocked gasp and Rias crumpled the paper and burned it." Good thinking Azazel." A nod of gratitude was given, as the two now knew of the horrible side effects that could've been made. It didn't put the others at ease, with how Rias had reacted to the information, nor what Azazel had said about Saji possibly dying. But for now, the majority of the group decided to not ask and just let it be.