Chapter 31 - Cute bird

"I'm back" Sona greeted the duo.

Seeing at Sona who has just arrived, Leo sighed with relief. It was not easy for him to have a conversation with Tsubaki.

Noticing Leo's expression, Sona covered her mouth with her sleeve to hide her smile.

Turning to Rias, Sona sketched a radiant smile: "Rias, she is Tsubaki, she began to be part of my peerage as queen a few days ago and still has a hard time adapting to her new life," Sona said while pointing at Tsubaki.

Before the unknown people, Tsubaki rose from the chair, gathered all her courage and spoke while bowing slightly: "Nice to meet you, Rias-sama"

Although she was new as a devil, Sona personally took charge of teaching her all the basics about the underworld to Tsubaki.

Rias looked at Tsubaki and said with a smile: "Likewise Tsubaki-san. Sona has already told you about me "

"HMm" Tsubaki nodded shyly.

Laughing softly, Sona looked at Rias and shook her head slightly.

Noting Sona's action, Rias was curious.

"Rias, could you come with me for a moment? there is something I want to show you "Sona said ignoring Rias' curious look.

Noting her intention, Rias quickly excused herself.

"Akeno, stay here and practice with Leo-san and Tsubaki-san. Sona and I will be right back" Rias explained before leaving with Sona.

"Do you know what she plans?" Leo asked as he rose from the table and walked to the center of the courtyard.

"I don't know. Understanding what Sona-sama is thinking is complicated, you should know better than me. "Akeno replied while shaking her head.

"Right" Leo sighed in resignation.

"Well, I'll ask her later." Stretching his body, Leo looks at Akeno with a smile: "You are ready for training." Leo said and gestured with his hand for Akeno to approach.

"Hehehe" Akeno laughed softly and headed towards Leo.

Looking at the duo, Tsubaki felt that the duo's attitude strange but she decided to ignore them and continue her practice.

______________________

After leaving the courtyard, Rias followed Sona to a room far from the rest.

"What do you have planned Sona?" Rias asked curiously.

Ignoring Rias's question, Sona walked slowly across the room examining the windows and closets. Still unsure, Sona examined the outside before nodding in satisfaction.

"Sona? What happened?" Rias asked curiously about Sona's attitude.

"Ah? no… I was just making sure they didn't spy on us" Sona answered quickly. Walking to the couch, Sona sat down and indicated a Rias to sit down.

"Spy on us, who?" Rias asked before sitting next to Sona.

"Tsubaki ..." Sona whispered as if she was afraid someone would listen to her.

"Wait. I don't understand anything you're saying, explain yourself better." Rias complained.

"All right. Just don't laugh at what I'm going to tell you. "Sona demanded.

"Okay, just tell me now," Rias said exasperatedly. It wasn't a lie if she said she was getting more and more interested in what Sona was planning.

"To celebrate Tsubaki's arrival, I planned to have a welcome party for her after she got used to living here but my sister told me a few days ago that Leo would leave after you came, so I intended to do it today" Sona explained.

Listening to Sona, Rias couldn't help laughing: "Hahaha"

"What is so funny?" Sona asked with a frown.

"Sona, if someone told me before you would be so excited to have a party, I would think that person is crazy," Rias said while holding her stomach.

Listening to Rias, Sona's cheeks blushed noticeably.

"Don't make fun, what kind of devil would I be if I don't take care of my servants?" Sona avoided Rias's gaze and quickly explained. Although her crimson cheeks betrayed her thoughts.

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The flames danced around the courtyard forming a bird of fire. With the appearance of the bird, the surrounding temperature gradually increased.

"No. Once the bird has materialized do not cut your connection with it and establish a mark with the objective."

"For the umpteenth time, how?" Akeno asked a little irritated.

"Eh?"

"You don't know how to create it? right" Akeno said indignantly.

"Yes, I know, but I don't know how to explain it" Leo responded with shame.

"Sigh ..." Akeno sighed in exasperation.

"Hehehe" Leo smiled awkwardly.

After a few minutes trying to explain how a brand was created, he realized that he could not explain how his ability worked and much less teach it to someone

Every time he used Gokuencho, he simply thought about the skill and formed naturally but he was not able to explain it.

Explaining his ability was as difficult as if he tried to explain how to breathe, It was something I knew superficially how it worked but he did not know the whole process behind it.

"Forget it, it's better if you feel it yourself" Rising, Leo held Akeno's hand and said with a smile: "He will feel a little strange at first but resist it." When he finished speaking, Leo sent a pulse of his magical energy to Akeno.

"Wait ..." Before I could finish. As a prey unleashed, Akeno felt how Leo's magical energy ran through every muscle and cell in her body.

The feeling was pleasant, like floating in the middle of the sea or being in the most comfortable bed in the world. She tried to resist at first but every part of her being felt extremely comfortable which resulted in a failed attempt.

"I would like to be like this forever." Akeno thought to herself. Concerns, problems in even her thoughts vanished before this new feeling.

"Are you okay?" Leo asked when he notices her strange behavior.

"Humm" Awakened from her stupor, Akeno breathed heavily trying to recover from the strange sensation.

"Can you feel it?" Leo asked before releasing his hand.

"Feel what?"

"The brand"

"What brand?" Akeno asked with glassy eyes.

Listening to her words, Leo rolled his eyes.

'Forget it, I'll wait for her to recover' Leo sighed internally.

After a while, Akeno slowly recovered from her stupor.

"Akeno" Leo called softly.

"Yes?" Akeno's body tensed slightly. she turned to Leo slowly but avoided looking his in the eye.

"How do you feel?"

"Better, my magic reserves are full, co ..." Before she could finish, she looked at Leo in amazement.

"You already noticed, right? I used my magical energy to guide your energy to form a mark on me, it is not too complicated. Once you get used to it you can mark your goal without my help" Leo explained. Finishing his explanation, Leo moved away a few meters from Akeno.

"Now, try to attack me"

"Okay" Akeno responded quickly.

Taking a breath of air to calm down, Akeno turned her full attention to recreating the skill.

'don't have to use too much magic, once the bird forms, I have to keep my connection with it and link it to the target." Akeno thought to herself.

Slowly, a flame appeared in her hands. The size of the flame was that of a lighter, it was small but at least it could withstand the wind. After a few moments, she slowly increased the size of the flame until its size was that of a tennis ball.

"This is my limit." Akeno thought to herself when she noticed that she was slowly losing control over the flame that now looked more like a fireball so she decided to stop.

Positioning her hand to parallel to each other, she slowly shaped the fireball. Wings, beak, head and claws, little by little the fireball was acquiring a more vivid form although several parts of its body were poorly formed, so it could bȧrėly pass as a bird. When she finished, Akeno sighed in relief and wiped the sweat from her forehead with her free hand.

She was not so skilled with the magic of fire so it took a long time to shape the fireball.

'Huh!? Why do I have to change its shape? I could just make a fireball instead of going through the tedious process of shaping it. 'Akeno thought with a grievance.

Burying her thoughts, she will consider complaining later. sliding her hand, the bird left her hand and flew slowly towards Leo.

Yes, the bird flew slowly towards Leo.

Seeing the bird, Leo thought it was quite fun to see how the badly formed bird beat its deformed wings trying to reach Leo as quickly as possible.

Leo: "..." (How much do I have to wait?)

Akeno: "..." (Come on little bird)

After several minutes, the bird arrived at Leo, well, what was left of him ...

Before the bird can touch him, Leo took two steps to the right. Noticing Leo's movement, the bird slowly changes its direction where Leo moved.

* Pu

The bird collided with Leo's ċhėst without causing any damage, just leaving a small mark on his clothes.

"Fuu ... I thought it wouldn't arrive" She sighed relieved.

"Let's rest for a while, although this ability is not complicated, it causes a great burden on your mind," Leo said and headed to the table.

"Yes," Akeno said while rubbing her temple. After a short break, he went to the table.

After she sat down, Akeno looked at Tsubaki thoughtfully.

"Tsubaki-san, do you want to train with us?" Akeno suggested.

"No thanks. I still can't use magic so I don't want to be a nuisance to you" Tsubaki thought of the bird of fire that Akeno created, making her feel increasingly ashamed of herself.

"What's up with that? We can help you a little. With our help, I'm sure you can use magic in a short time." Leo said with a smile.

"Yes, we all go through the process of feeling the magical energy. And different points of view can help you feel the magical energy faster, "Akeno said quickly supporting Leo.

"But… "

"You have no excuses so accept your destiny," Akeno said with a smile.

"Fine ..." Tsubaki reluctantly accepted her fate.

After convincing Tsubaki, the trio rested a little more before continuing with their practice, only this time Leo and Akeno took turns teaching Tsubaki how to feel the magical energy only that Leo was the least participant at the time of Teach Tsubaki, this caused Akeno to label him as bad to teach people.

Once they dealt with Tsubaki, it was Leo's turn for Akeno to teach him a lesson about her lightning magic.