Fate: Gremory [Remake] (ENG)

Translation: Word (Microsoft), there are probably errors in the masculine and feminine pronouns.

Chapter 14

Issei Hyoudou, with his Boosted Gear wrapped around his left arm, was facing a surreal fight.

The albino boy was humiliating him effortlessly.

It didn't matter how he attacked, not even when he tried to take advantage of a supposed low guard. His blows never found their target. Each attempt ended in an absolute failure.

It was frustrating. Desperate.

"Ugh!"

In one last attempt, he found what appeared to be an opening.

"This is my chance!"

He lunged with all his might, his fist wrapped in the red claw ready to strike...

But the instant he thought he had succeeded...

"Tch. Slow."

A flash.

A brutal impact on his chin.

"Guh!"

The world spun wildly as his body was thrown backwards without him being able to react.

His back hit the ground with a dry rumble. He barely had time to process it.

"What... what was that...?"

He blinked repeatedly, his vision blurry, trying to focus on what had just happened.

He didn't even see the attack.

But he felt it.

A devastating kick had hit him before his mind could react.

When he could finally see clearly, the albino boy was still there, watching him without any emotion.

"I told you. You're slow."

His tone had no mockery or arrogance. It was simply the truth.

And that was worse than any humiliation.

Issei gritted his teeth.

His body trembled from the impact, but more than that... It was his pride that hurt.

He strained to his feet, his legs wobbling slightly.

"No... I'm not going to give up..."

He clenched his fists, feeling the energy flowing down his left arm.

The Boosted Gear glowed dimly.

The dragon inside him had awakened.

Now, I just had to learn how to control it.

…

Issei was breathing heavily. His body trembled, but his legs remained steady.

The pain was unbearable. Every muscle screamed at him to give up, to fall to the ground and this nightmare would end.

But he refused.

The albino boy calmly watched him. Without a trace of effort, without a hint of tiredness.

Then he bowed his head slightly and murmured:

"I guess I should get a little more serious."

Issei felt a chill run down his spine.

Suddenly, the boy disappeared from her sight.

"Where—?"

Before he could react, a flurry of blows hit him from all directions.

"Boost! Boost!"

The metallic sound of his Boosted Gear echoed through the area as the energy within Issei increased exponentially.

"Let's go! I only have to hit it once!"

With all his strength, he lunged forward with a fist charged with power...

But the instant he tried to move...

The kicks came.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Too fast.

Too strong.

Issei couldn't see anything. I just felt the impacts over and over again.

Every blow robbed him of his air.

Each kick plunged him deeper into the abyss of pain.

"How the hell... I'm supposed to fight this?"

His mind collapsed.

His vision became blurry.

And in a last moment of consciousness...

He fell to his knees.

Then, everything went black.

The albino boy sighed as he saw the teenager collapse, unconscious from the brutal barrage of blows he had received. He didn't even bother to check if he was still conscious.

It was evident that he could no longer continue.

At that moment, a monotone voice broke the silence.

"The new Sekiryuutei is improving."

The boy turned his head slightly and saw the dark-haired girl standing in the distance. His expressionless eyes were fixed on Issei's body.

"It's barely been a day since you started training him, and his endurance is already remarkable. To endure an hour of your weak blows... not bad."

The albino did not respond immediately.

He just looked at Issei lying on the ground, motionless, as if he was considering the girl's words.

Finally, he exhaled indifferently.

"… Yes. But it's still not enough."

The albino boy approached Issei's motionless body and bowed slightly.

Unhurriedly, he extended his right hand over him.

A soft white energy began to emanate from his palm, enveloping the body of the unconscious Sekiryuutei. The wounds and bruises slowly disappeared, as if they had never existed.

"He will be with us for the next five days." The albino boy said indifferently. "He's going to cry blood from training before returning to his family."

The dark-haired girl let out a light sigh before speaking.

"Because you have to take it to the extreme unnecessarily, Shiro."

His tone was monotonous, but there was a tinge of resignation in his words.

Shiro didn't take his eyes off Issei.

"We're talking about a Heavenly Dragon wielder."

He stood up calmly and looked away at the night sky.

"It's necessary for their growth."

He took a few steps away, letting Issei rest on the greenish grass of the clearing.

"If he wants to protect the people he cherishes..." He paused briefly before finishing coolly. "… he will have to work hard enough to face the enemies that will come in the future."

And with that, the real test of the Sekiryuutei was just beginning.

❅──────✧❃✧──────❅•

I was bored.

Another day and the training subject named Issei Hyoudou was still pitiful.

Well... for now.

If you continue to hold on to your determination to protect your family, you may achieve something minimally acceptable before your training is over in a few days.

I don't expect miracles, but at least I should be able to stay alive.

My thoughts momentarily drifted to Kuoh City.

If the rumors are true, Kokabiel of the Grigori Faction is planning an attack with the goal of eliminating Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri.

If a war between factions begins.

The Sekiryuutei will have to be ready.

…

The wind was blowing gently, swaying through the trees in the clearing where we stood.

Then, a monotonous and soft voice broke the silence.

"I'm amazed at the drastic change you had, Shiro."

Without needing to turn around, I knew immediately who he was.

Lilith was standing beside me, watching me with her usual expression: serene, distant, expressionless.

"It was two years ago that I found you and took you with me. And how confused we were when I mentioned you were ten years old."

His comment made me sigh.

He knew perfectly well what he meant.

My appearance was deceptive.

Although my body looked like that of a 10 or 12-year-old boy, I was actually fourteen. Over the past year, my body had grown, reaching 155 centimeters.

But currently I kept a magic active on me to reduce my height to 130 centimeters.

That way he could continue to pretend to be a child.

I turned my gaze to her.

"And you haven't changed at all."

Lilith blinked slowly.

"When you found me, you said you were fourteen. Now sixteen... you're still the same, with the appearance of a girl."

"In my case, it's because I'm a dragon."

His voice sounded indifferent, as if he were explaining something obvious.

"Our growth is late. We live hundreds of years... even millennia."

The wind blew again, carrying its gentle fragrance with it.

Lilith looked at me for a moment with her usual impassive expression... until, without warning, he leaned over slightly and pressed his lips against mine.

A brief contact. Silent.

Before I could react, he parted without saying anything, his black eyes staring at me with no apparent emotion.

I just blinked, surprised.

"...And that?"

Lilith tilted her head slightly.

"Action instead of words."

Then, without further ado, he turned his gaze to the moon.

I let out a slight sigh.

"You always do what you want, right?"

She didn't answer.

I didn't have to.

His actions had already said it all.

❅──────✧❃✧──────❅•

Another day arrives.

Issei was still deep in thought.

Despite the pain in his body after another day of training, his mind couldn't help but wonder who the two children were who had brought him to this strange place.

Especially Shiro, the white-haired boy.

"His name means 'white'... How curious."

It was as if someone had named him without much thought, simply based on the color of his hair.

Was it a name he chose himself? Or did someone else give it to him?

The other girl, Lilith, was always at a distance. Observing and analyzing.

He never talked too much. His stoic, cold expression made it hard to tell what he was thinking.

"But..."

Issei let out a slight sigh.

"More than a workout, this has been a beating."

Shiro did not hold back. Every hit, every attack, every fall...

He was relentless.

However, Issei could not deny something.

He had changed.

He had become stronger.

He would never have imagined that one day he would be able to lift a giant rock with his bare hands.

A superhuman strength that would never have awakened...

If only I had not been on the verge of death.

The image of Yuuma-chan appeared in his mind, sharp and cruel.

His sweet smile.

His angelic face.

His soft voice as he asked him to die.

A lump formed in his throat.

He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to ignore the chill that ran through his body.

"I almost died... into their hands."

The memory tormented him.

But deep down, something inside him was beginning to change.

He wasn't just getting stronger physically.

Also, his mind and spirit were evolving.

And, although I still didn't fully understand it...

His true path had just begun.

❅──────✧❃✧──────❅•

Issei gasped, his body aching from the brutality of the training.

"This is ridiculous... I can't go on like this."

Shiro was watching him from a distance, relaxed, without a drop of sweat on his face.

"Is that all?"

The mockery in his tone made Issei's blood boil.

"No. I'm not going to get beaten anymore."

He put himself on guard, but this time with a new idea in mind.

Shiro lunged at him at inhuman speed.

Issei couldn't keep up with his speed.

"If I can't see it... then I must make him go where I want."

At the last second, he made a feint.

He pretended to move to the right... but in reality it turned in the opposite direction.

For the first time, Shiro took an instant to react.

That small moment was all Issei needed.

With all his strength, he threw a punch with the Boosted Gear towards Shiro's chest.

"Now!"

But at the last second...

Shiro disappeared from his sight.

A devastating impact hit his back.

"Gah!"

Issei shot through the air, crashing to the ground in excruciating pain.

Shiro stood beside him, with a faint smile of amusement.

"Interesting. You thought before you attacked."

Issei tried to move, but his body was unresponsive.

"Shit... I thought I had it."

Lilith, who had been watching silently, finally spoke.

"If you had had a little more speed... You would have gotten your first hit."

His words were neutral, but within them there was a glimmer of recognition.

For the first time, Issei had tried a real strategy.

And although he failed... I had learned something important.

"It's not just about hitting harder."

"It's about making sure the enemy doesn't see the blow coming."

With that thought, a new determination was born within him.

This training wasn't just to make him stronger.

It was to make him smarter.

Night had fallen on the clearing where they had been training.

A campfire crackled gently in the center of the place, casting dancing shadows on the grass.

Issei sat cross-legged, feeling the warmth of the fire as he held a bowl of rice and a piece of meat in his hand.

Beside him, Shiro and Lilith ate in silence, but with one noticeable difference:

While Issei had a well-served dish, they barely ate meat cooked over the fire, unaccompanied.

"They don't touch the rice... nor orange juice. Do they always eat like this?"

The thought seemed strange to him, but he said nothing.

Or at least, not until his curiosity became unbearable.

"… Hey."

Shiro looked up, looking at him with his usual neutral expression.

Lilith didn't even react, she just kept eating calmly.

"Why do they eat so little?" asked Issei, breaking the silence.

Shiro shrugged.

"We don't need more than this."

Issei frowned.

"What kind of response is that? A good hot rice is always welcome."

Lilith gave him a brief glance, but said nothing.

Shiro simply continued to eat.

Silence fell again between them.

Issei took a breath and plucked up the courage.

"… Actually, there's something else I want to ask."

Shiro momentarily stopped his movement, as if he knew what was coming.

Lilith also seemed more attentive.

"Who are you?" finally asked Issei.

"I've been here for days and I know absolutely nothing about them."

Shiro was silent for a moment, as if he was considering whether or not to answer.

Then, he simply shrugged.

"I barely had consciousness two years ago."

Issei froze.

What?"

Shiro continued calmly.

"Lilith found me when I woke up in this world. I didn't know who he was, or where he came from. I had no memories."

He brought a piece of meat to his mouth, as if he were talking about something irrelevant.

"So he gave me a name. Shiro."

Issei felt strange hearing that.

"So... His name was actually given by someone simply based on the color of his hair."

It was exactly what she had thought when she met him.

But now that I heard it out loud... He thought it was incredibly sad.

Without a past.

Without identity.

No memories.

Just a name given by someone else.

Issei gritted his teeth, feeling a slight discomfort in his chest.

For the first time, he saw Shiro as more than just a monstrously strong child.

For the first time, he realized that there was something deeper in him... something that maybe even Shiro didn't understand.

Lilith looked at Issei with a vacant expression, but with a faint intensity in her black eyes.

She knew what she was thinking.

But he said nothing.

He just continued to eat in silence.

The fire crackled softly, filling the air with a passing heat.

But in Issei's mind, a sense of unease lingered.