Chapter 80 - Revealing the Truth (Sort of): Part 1

{Issei's POV:}

At the start of my training I couldn't see mana clearly, but as my skills improved so did my perception towards mana. When I was confident in my mana perception I wanted to try out sensing if any of my family members had any mana in their bodies. The results of my actions came out that none of my family members had any mana in their bodies. At the time I wasn't surprised since Ddraig told me that not everyone could house mana in their bodies. However, after hearing the truth from Ddraig I learned the meaning to the phrase looks can be deceiving and was even more apparent after I had Esau take me to where Aniki was.

When I first saw Aniki after the teleportation I intended to begin questioning him but, I stopped myself when I saw the mana around him. Normally whenever I perceive the mana signature of someone their mana usually creates a cocoon around them in what Ddraig called a mana field. From what I know a mana field is the manifestation of a person's mana outside their bodies while their elemental affinities are mixed in. As for the size most people tend to suppress their field so as not to draw too much attention but from what Ddraig told me some mana field can range from as little as a few millimeters to if possible as large as the planet.

As for why I'm saying this? It is because after teleporting my body felt like it was being pressured by a mountain. I even had to use my mana field to protect myself from the pressure I felt. As for the mana around me, it had a rainbow hue with it changing colors rapidly everywhere I looked. My eyes started to hurt watching this, so much so that I wanted to return my eyes to normal but before I did I looked at the source of the mana and was shocked.

Returning my eyes to normal I looked at the source again to make sure I wasn't wrong, and I wasn't. Sitting down under the shade of a tree in front of me was Aniki, I couldn't see his face since he wasn't facing my direction so I tried to call out to him. Unfortunately, the pressure from before still weighed on me so it took me a while, and when I finally spoke all I said was one word.

"Aniki."

"What's up little brother," He said turning my direction waiting for me to answer, but when he saw I wasn't speaking he thought for a moment before coming to a realization, "Oh! Sorry about that."

Immediately after the mountain like the pressure I felt went away and I was finally able to regain my bearings. Then immediately after I heard a new voice.

"I guess we'll leave you two alone now.:

"Huh,"

It was Shirone I didn't notice her at first since I was only looking at Aniki but she was also here. Watching her leave I wasn't planning to say anything but that was before I saw her ears and tail.

"Nekomata?!" I whispered under my breath in bewilderment

"It's Nekoshou actually," Aniki said correcting me, "Come on, I'm sure there is a lot you want to talk about."

Simply nodding to his words I followed Aniki. Along the way, I occasionally sent a few glances towards Aniki and was comparing this Aniki to the one I'm used to.

Before I saw Aniki as someone who I could talk to normal while also being someone I look up to, but now I Aniki's atmosphere seems different. He feels older and more mȧturė, he still acts carefree but I feel like compared to the brotherly bond we once had now it's like an elder and his grandchild. Now that I was up close to him I felt hesitant … and a little scared.

"What are you waiting for?" Ddraig called out to me in my mind through the Boosted Gear, "Hesitating will get you nowhere. Remember why you came here."

Using Ddraig's words to boost my confidence I took in a breath of air and spoke.

"Aniki I want to know the truth!" I called out without thinking my words through

"..."

"..."

"...Okay," Aniki said expecting me to say more, "What do you want to know?"

"...Why have you been living a secret life from me and the rest of the family?" I asked this time thinking before talking

"Oh ok well," He said looking to the sky before answering, "You've seen first hand haven't you the wonders and horrors of this world right? How people in the supernatural world can do things unimaginable to normal humans, as well as how without proper backing you're basically a fish waiting to be slaughtered."

"Ya I understand that," I said comparing my recent experiences to what Aniki was saying

"Then that's your answer," He said, "While I could show our family the wonders of this world I just couldn't because of the dangers. Mom, Dad, and Tsukihime-chan are just normal humans if I brought them into this world I don't know how they'll act. Tsukihime-chan aside if I tried to train Mom and Dad who have already passed the age suitable for magic training their power would at most be near the bottom of the barrel, well that's if they are human but how can you expect a son to tell this to their parents."

"Then why were you okay with letting me come to this world?" I asked accepting Aniki's answer, he was right in the fact that even if our parents knew they might not be able to handle the dangers that come with this world.

"That's because you have a Sacred Gear Issei," He said pointing to my arm, "Sacred Gears are mysterious things that boost their user's power level a lot. They also get stronger the more the user understanding and masters their Scared Gear. This is called Balance Breaker and I already know that you can use it as well as understand the power it carries."

"Yes, I do."

"Also," He continued, "Your Sacred Gear especially the Boosted Gear it is one of the thirteen strongest Sacred Gears created. Its title isn't unfounded in the fact that you've grown so much in just these four short months. You do know it takes normal people without a sacred gear at least a year to learn magic right and you cut that down to four months."

"Eh…." I didn't notice that

"But anyway continuing on to your question, I didn't let you enter this world. I let you have that four-month training period as a way for Ddraig to inform you of what you'll have to experience in the future. It was my miscalculation in the fact that you didn't listen but I'll just classify that as your fault, not ours right Ddraig?"

"Agreed" Ddraig called out from the Boosted Gear

"Hey!!" I complained

"But anyway from what Esau and Ddraig told me you seem to have found your resolve." He said with a smile before his expression became serious, "Still though I'll ask you this, not as a member of the supernatural world but as your brother. Do you want to live in this world you can still turn back cause after this there are no regrets If you want to live in this world I will support you to the best of my abilities until I feel you can handle things yourself, but if you don't I'll return you to the quiet peaceful life you once had before meeting Ddraig."

"..."

"..."

No words were spoken all we did was look at each other in silence before I eventually broke that silence

"Did you give yourself a way out too Aniki?"