AN: Would you look at that! An update that's actually on time. These shorter chapters are definitely more manageable. As usual, thank you to everyone who's kept with me all this time, and welcome to those who are just joining us.

-xXx-

Wheezing, I continue to hike up a steep mountain with an uneven dirt trail while carrying three heavy bags, one in each hand and one on my back. Gremory-senpai had told us to meet at the train station at five in the morning so we could make our way to one of her family estates at the outskirts of town. It was a thirty minute train ride, but we've been walking for more than two hours already. At least it feels that way with the amount of stuff I've been carrying.

Well, I only have myself to blame. I am the one who asked Gremory-senpai to train me.

My hair and clothes were soaked with sweat and it felt like my muscles were going to tear apart, but I kept on pushing, keeping pace with Kiba-san who's marching in front of me carrying a large pack herself seemingly effortlessly. Every few minutes she'd glance back at me worriedly, but I continued to push myself forward.

"Saya-san, here. Some water."

Pausing momentarily, I give Asia a grateful nod as she reaches up and pours some water into my open mouth.

Part of my motivation came from Asia who was walking beside me, steadily encouraging me and giving me the nectar of life.

Finally, we all came to a stop in front of a massive estate surrounded by a forest.

"We're here," Gremory-senpai announces before turning to me. "Hyoudou-san. Take a break for half an hour. We'll begin your training after that."

I nodded, unable to muster up the energy to speak as we walked inside. Dropping off the bags by the grand staircase as per Gremory-senpai's instruction, I collapse onto one of the sofas in the lounge.

Ten days… I have ten days to get strong enough to beat Riser.

Closing my eyes, I feel myself start to drift off to sleep.

-xXx-

[Partner. You sure about this?]

"Yes, Ddraig. This is the perfect chance."

What is this? A memory? A massive dragon is speaking to somebody. Who is it?

The red dragon sighs. [Fine. I'll trust your judgement.]

"Thank you. As I am now, I wouldn't be able to overcome this trial, but she's different."

They both turn to face me. I can't move; can't speak.

[Still. To think that you're able to pull off something like this. My Partner is more of a monster than I,] the red dragon says with a hearty chuckle.

"Take care of her, Ddraig. It wouldn't do for her to get killed before the right time."

[I will. Don't worry. How much should I tell her?]

"Just enough. No need to divulge all our secrets. We need to keep a certain air of mystery after all."

[Alright. I'll see you later, Partner.]

"I'll be waiting."

My vision swirls into a vortex, the figures merging into each other before everything fades to black.

I'm vaguely away of somebody shaking my body and I crack open my eyes to see Asia's face hovering over mine.

"Ah! You're awake. Buchou said that it's time to meet up."

Groaning, I sit up and stretch out my sore muscles.

Alright. Time to get this underway.

I stand up and smile at Asia. "Thanks for waking me up. Let's go."

The blonde girl nods and returns my smile.

Together, we make our way back outside and see that the others were already there dressed in their gym uniforms.

"There you are," Gremory-senpai greets with a nod. "Now then, let's start you off with weapons training with Yumi."

The girl in question shoots me a grin before tossing over a wooden sword handle first. I catch it and give it an experimental twirl. Hm. It feel like something's missing.

Well, whatever.

"First off," Kiba-san says while holding her training sword out in front of her. "Try to hit me within three minutes. I won't attack, and I'll only dodge and block. That way I'll be able to gauge your abilities."

I nod and swallow nervously while holding the wooden sword in two handed grip. I had dabbled a little bit in kendo, but I'm far from being an expert.

"Begin!" The prince calls out, and I dash towards her.

Crying out, I bring the sword down in a vertical strike to which she easily sidesteps. I follow up with a horizontal swing only for my attack to be parried. Like this I continue my assault on the Knight. I can predict how she'll move to avoid my strikes, but I just can't hit fast enough to catch her.

Dammit. I knew something felt off.

Before I knew it, three minutes had passed.

"Not yet," I say between heavy breaths. "Let's go again!"

Kiba-san quirks an eyebrow at that. "Are you sure? The results will be the same."

Maybe..

I shake my head. "Can I get another sword?"

"You're planning to dual wield?" The Knight asks dubiously. "You're still a beginner, so-"

"Here," Gremory-senpai suddenly says as she throws one of the spares at me, cutting Kiba-san off.

Feeling the pair of wooden swords in my hand does erase some of that strange feeling, but there's still something else. It's too heavy. Nodding, I break the pair of them in half over my knees.

There. That feels much better.

Yeah.

This feels right.

"Alright. I'm ready," I say, locking eyes with Kiba-san.

"Then, same rules. Begin!"

With renewed vigour, I sprint towards the Knight, keeping low to the ground and bring my left arm back.

I can see it; the muscles tensing as she prepares to dodge.

Kiba-san easily avoids the trajectory of my first swing, but as she's recovering from her step back, I thrust out towards her with my right. Her eyes widen in surprise as the broken sword nears near chest before she quickly bats it away, sending my arm up with the force of the strike. Not letting up, I quickly slash with my left, forcing my opponent to guard again.

I regain my footing before bringing both of my swords down on her. Next, pull back and slash with my right. She'll dodge. Step forward and feint with a left stab. She'll prepare to parry. Change trajectory and strike with my right again. She'll lean back to avoid it. Duck low and circle around before stabbing with my left. She'll spin and swing down. Slip to the side and strike with the handle.

Kiba-san grunts and staggers back, clutching at her stomach with a shocked expression.

That was…

Once again, I was surprised by my actions. I did do martial arts to keep myself active, but this is the first time I ever felt like this. It was like my body went on autopilot. I could predict everything she was about to do, and react accordingly.

"Very well done," she says with a genuine smile. "I didn't expect something like that."

I shake my head. "To be honest, neither did I."

Gremory-senpai suddenly claps her hands, gathering our attention. "Alright! Take a short break, Hyoudou-san. We'll begin your magic training with Akeno after five minutes."

Kiba-san and I nod.

"That was incredibly impressive," the Prince says, walking up to me. "You're self taught, correct?"

"That's right. Although, I still have no idea how I managed to move like that."

"Then that must mean it was instinctual. Some people are naturally born with heightened battle senses, and you must be one of them. I'm sure you'll be more than strong enough by the end of this training camp."

I stare down at the pair of wooden swords still gripped in my hands.

"I hope you're right," I mutter.

-xXx-

Rias Gremory's ten day gruelling training camp continued with increasing intensity. In the mornings, I would practice sword fighting with Yumi who had started going all out in our spars. Of course, that meant I was able to use my Sacred Gear's ability, the old man dragon called Ddraig, which doubles my combat abilities every ten seconds. Unfortunately as Yumi is a Knight, I had an extremely hard time keeping up with her speed despite my buffs. That and she had started using two blades as well.

Unfortunately, my magic training with Himejima-senpai was going nowhere. For some reason my magic levels are so low that they might as well be sitting at zero. I did manage to get to the point where I could produce a tiny ball of energy, but Asia's been able to freely manipulate water. It probably helps that she's a Bishop which receives a buff to magical energy, but the progress she's making dwarfs mine by far.

After lunch is hand to hand training with Toujou-san. While my sparring sessions with Yumi tested my speed and reflexes with weapons, Toujou-san's training focused on strength and endurance. Just a single strike from her would send me flying through the air with more than a few cracked ribs. Luckily Asia was always there to heal any wounds I would receive. Fighting against the small girl is like fighting against an unfair fighting game boss with a small hitbox and can kill you with one combo.

To top it all off in the evening is muscle and endurance building with Gremory-senpai. I'm made to trudge up the side of the mountain while carrying weights that would put a bodybuilder to shame, perform one thousand push ups, one thousand sit ups, and one thousand squats at the top, and then run back down.

Needless to say it felt like I would die after each session, but that was how a week had finally passed.

"You've been progressing nicely, Hyoudou-san, Asia" Gremory-senpai says while I stretch out my sore muscles.

She had called all of us out into the woods after dinner saying she had prepared another regimen: Combat simulation. Apparently the others in the club excluding Asia and me have all had real combat experience in the form of taking down Stray Devils, reincarnated Devils that betray their King.

"You and Asia are to survive Yumi's and Koneko's combined assault for ten minutes," the red-haired Devil continues. "They will only stop when one of you is knocked unconscious or if you concede defeat. The boundaries will be the edges of this forest. Any questions?"

"As long as we can survive, then anything is permitted, right?" I ask.

Gremory-senpai nods. "Of course. Do anything you need to. There's no such thing as fighting dirty in a fight to the death. Survival is what it all comes down to. The winner is always the one who's alive in the end, and that applies to the Rating Game we have in three days."

"Alright. I understand."

Asia, who's standing beside me, gives a firm nod of agreement.

"You will be given a five second head start. Go!"

At her signal, I quickly sweep Asia off her feet, eliciting a small shriek from the girl, and carry her bridal style before taking off into the trees. She certainly feels light like a feather now after the hell I've been through.

First things first, though. I need to hide Asia in a safe place since her combat capabilities are limited. Himejima-senpai's been teaching her some basic ways to attack with magic, but it won't be enough to take down those two.

However, before I could make it very far, I'm forced to duck under a sword that flew out of the bushes and embedded itself into a tree.

I guess we're going all out for this, then.

Quickly putting Asia down, I summon Boosted Gear and grab the blade in the tree before spinning and deflecting a strike that came from the shadows.

Yumi smiles and gives her weapons a twirl as she recovers her footing.

[BOOST!]

The Knight kicks off the ground with inhuman speed almost disappearing from sight. Our swords clash once again sending sparks scattering into the night. Her assault continues unrelentingly forcing me to either parry or block her attacks with no room for rest.

I wince as one of Yumi's swords made it through my defences and grazes my cheek.

If I don't do something then I won't even last five minutes let alone ten.

[BOOST!]

As another surge of strength wells up inside me, I spot a gap in Yumi's offense and kick her away from me to get some breathing room when suddenly a small figure leaps out of the foliage to my left. I barely manage to duck under Koneko's surprise attack before I find myself staring down a pair of steel swords crossed in front of my neck.

"It's your loss, Saya-san," the Knight states calmly.

"I don't think so," I reply with a smirk.

[BOOST!]

Suddenly a gust kicks up a small whirlwind of dirt and leaves that gets sent into Yumi's eyes. She cries out and stumbles back, dropping her swords in the process as she covers her eyes with her arms.

Good. That should give me time to take care of Koneko.

Shooting a quick thumbs up to Asia who has her arms outstretched with a pale green glow enveloping her hands, I dash to intercept the small white-haired girl who was trying to go for Asia.

She easily catches my blade with her gloved hands before proceeding to snap it in two.

Guess it's going to be hand to hand from here on.

I cast away the broken sword and put my fists up in front of my face resembling an orthodox boxing stance.

[BOOST!]

Koneko may be stronger than me physically, but I've at least got longer reach. If I even block one of her hits I don't doubt I'd instantly get knocked out cold, so my only choice is to avoid and strike from outside her range.

The younger girl throws a punch which comes to a stop centimetres from my nose as I take a step back and counter with a jab.

She reels back from the hit much to our combined surprise, but recovers almost instantly, eyes sharpening.

[BOOST!]

I throw a punch that the white-haired Devil easily slips past and suddenly I'm sent flying through the air before coming to a violent stop against a tree.

Surprisingly it didn't hurt all that much. Is it because of the Boosted Gear?

However, before I could leap back into the fray, two claps in quick succession made us collectively freeze.

"Alright!" Gremory-senpai announces while walking between us. "That's enough for today. You did well, Hyoudou-san."

[BURST!]

"Ugh..!"

I fall to my knees after losing all strength in my limbs.

"Saya-san!"

In an instant, Asia is beside me fussing over me. Her healing light gives some comfort to the growing pain coming from where Koneko punched me.

At this rate… Will I be strong enough for when the Rating Game rolls around?

No. I have to be! If I'm not then Asia will…

That's right. I won't let that sleazebag lay a hand on Asia.

-xXx-

On our final night at Gremory-senpai's training camp, I find myself unable to fall asleep. I can still barely believe that this is happening. We're going into a high stakes arena battle against a highly experienced opponent with more Pieces than us. It all just seems so surreal. Not too long ago I was just a normal girl living a normal life.

A heavy sigh escapes from my mouth as I walk down the stairs of the secluded mansion only to see a dim light emanating from the living room. Curious, I make my way over to see Gremory-senpai sitting on one of the couches, hunched over a stack of papers and a map with chess pieces placed on top of it.

She perks up when she hears me enter and shoots me an exhausted smile. "You can't sleep, either?"

"No," I reply with a shake of my head. "I got up to get some fresh air when I saw you in here, Buchou."

"I see."

An awkward silence descends over the room before the older girl clears her throat and returns to whatever she was doing before.

That's right. Out of all of us here, she has the most riding on this competition. It still kind of irks me that Asia and I ended up getting dragged into her personal affairs like this, but an arranged marriage with somebody you don't even like is unforgivable.

"Hey, Buchou."

"Hm?"

I bite my lip, debating on whether or not I should say what's on my mind.

Ah, screw it!

"Why did you decide to resurrect me? Was it only because of my Sacred Gear?"

Gremory-senpai doesn't answer immediately, but eventually nods. "Yes. Your Boosted Gear is too valuable to let it fall into somebody else's hands. The same goes for Asia."

"I see…"

So that's all we are to her. Tools to strengthen her Peerage.

Resisting the urge to hit her, I turn heel and start to walk away.

"However, I also wish to call the two of you my friends. I know that you didn't ask for this life, and that you probably despise me for doing what I did. I just hope in time that you will forgive me."

"I'll… Keep that in mind. Good night. Don't stay up too late. We're counting on you tomorrow to lead us properly."

Although, I doubt either of us are going to get much sleep tonight.

Returning to my room, I collapse into the soft bed and try my best to calm my racing nerves.

The battle that decides our fates is tomorrow.

-xXx-

-Stat Sheet-

Master: Rias

Evil Piece: Pawn x8

Name: Saya Hyoudou

Titles: The Dimensional Ruler

Sex: Female

Race: Reincarnated Devil

Height: 5'5" (167cm)

Alignment: Neutral Good

Parameters:

Strength: C++

Endurance: B-

Agility: B

Magic: E-

Luck: A

Weapons: Varied

Skills:

Battle Continuation: A - Makes it possible to fight even with deadly wounds and stay alive unless a fatal blow is received.

Charisma: C- - Slightly boosts the morale and abilities of nearby allies.

Disengage: B - The ability to safely break away from combat.

Eye of the Mind (False): C – A natural talent to foresee danger via an innate sixth sense.

Pioneer of the Stars: EX - A unique skill given to heroes who became turning points in history. All difficult voyages and challenges which are considered "impossible" are turned into "events that can be realized".

Abilities:

Boosted Gear: EX - A Sacred Gear that holds the ancient dragon Ddraig. It has the ability to double the user's strength every ten seconds as long as the user's body can handle the strain.

Relationship Levels:

Rias Gremory: Rank 2

Akeno Himejima: Rank 2

Yumi Kiba: Rank 3

Koneko Toujou: Rank 2

Asia Argento: Rank 5

Yuki Hayata: Rank 6

Aika Heart: Rank 5

Yuuta Sato: Rank 1