Chapter 103: Familiarization

In an effort to rid himself of his frustrations, Nobu was currently standing across from an unarmed Kazue. Both had sweat dripping from their brows, but, despite abandoning her training years ago, Kazue was clearly the calmer and more relaxed of the two.

Though it was completely unnecessary, Nobu released a loud warcry as he leaped a short distance forward, hands trailing next to his chest as he compressed the surrounding air to the point it was visible to the naked eye. The moment his feet touched the ground, he shot his hands forward like a pair of spears, each producing a swirl of energy that shot forth at tremendous speeds.

Unable to evade, Kazue did the same thing most of the girls did when Nobu assaulted them with wind pressure. She leaned forward slightly, a golden aura manifesting around her body to produce a sloping dome that drastically reduced her drag coefficient. As a result, the compressed air flowed over and around her body as she flexed the muscles in her legs.

Clicking his tongue, Nobu slammed his palms towards the ground before jumping up in an attempt to evade Kazue as she crashed through his previous position like a shimmering, golden freight train.

Nobu's wind manipulation allowed him to be incredibly light on his feet. If he directed air currents from his hands and feet, he could even propel himself in a manner similar to iron man.

Unfortunately, unlike Tony Stark, Nobu didn't have multiple layers of conveniently shock absorbant and cinematically indestructible metal covering his body. Thus, if he wasn't careful, he could easily injure himself by crashing into something or landing poorly.

The icing on the cake was that Nobu always felt an extreme feeling of giddiness and vertigo when he leaped high into the air. It was almost like being on one of those bungee-cord carnival rides. It was an exhilarating experience while you were strapped into the harness, but, the moment one of the cords snapped, you would feel a sinking feeling in your stomach as the chill of existential dread washed over you.

Seeing the ground fast approaching, Nobu attempted to soften his landing by generating streams of air from his hands and feet. He managed to succeed, but, due to his fear of impacting the cold, hard ground, he ended up bobbing above it for several seconds. When he finally did land, a sharp pain similar to jumping off a one-story building shot up both legs as he landed on the flats of his feet.

Fortunately, this was intentional, as, the moment Nobu's feet impacted the earth, a wall of compact soil rose to intercept Kazue's charge. It was only around a meter thick but it was more than enough to completely arrest her momentum as she was slower and weaker than everyone else in the Realm of Golden Warrior. After all, while others spent years familiarizing themselves with the properties of their metallic Aura, Kazue had basically gone from Iron 7 to Gold 3 over the course of a few weeks.

Exhaling a breath of relief, Nobu took advantage of Kazue's momentary stupor to place his palms against the earthen wall. It was comprised of highly fertile soil that resembled a rich black mulch, but, the moment his hands pressed against it, the color began to fade to brown as a fair amount of water formed around his hands like a ferromagnetic liquid intent on climbing his arms.

While the Metal Infusion Technique was basically hax due to the increased durability and power it provided, Nobu hadn't given up on the Breath Progression Technique. Rather, with each successive advancement, his excitement towards it increased by several orders of magnitude.

Increasing your Aura over a short period of time provided a sense of euphoria even drugs couldn't match. It was also unbelievably addicting, so much so that Nobu felt a genuine sense of depression whenever he invested large sums of Aura into befriending people.

More importantly, the Breath Progression Technique functioned exactly as Nobu had expected it would after discovering it allowed him to manipulate air currents. More specifically, the Third and Fourth Realms were known as "Breath of Water" and "Breath of Earth", respectively. In other words, while his control was still shit, he could manipulate air, water, and earth using his Aura. With the next Realm being referred to as "Breath of Fire", Nobu had very high hopes for the future.

With more than enough water for his purposes, Nobu backed away from the crumbling wall of soil as he brought his hands together like a soothsayer peering into a crystal ball. The water clinging to his hands quickly came together to form a sphere. This was useless unless on its own, but, thanks to the guidance he had received from Inami, Nian's preeminent flame and ice controller, it only took a couple of days to learn how to freeze the interior by infusing it with trace amounts of Yin Elemental Energy.

Seeing what Nobu was up to, Kazue ceased trying to break through the wall of dirt and instead focused all of her Aura to produce a defensive wall. This ended up being the correct decision, as, moments later, the sphere of condensed ice slammed into her shield like a cannonball. It shattered on contact, but the kinetic energy was more than enough to leave a massive dent in the barrier's surface.

"A little excessive, don't you think...?"

Feeling a cold shiver spread through her body as a result of the dissipating Yin Elemental Energy, Kazue released her Aura instead of allowing it to return. It would take some time for the energy to fully dissipate and she didn't want to freeze her insides by trying to forcefully absorb it.

Shaking his head, Nobu's expression morphed into a wry smile as he retorted, "Speak for yourself. I don't have a convenient barrier protecting my body. Getting hit by you is like being trampled by a bull."

Scratching the back of her head, Kazue's expression became somewhat awkward as she asked, "So, what now? I used up all of my Aura in that shield so we'd need to spar without them if you want to continue."

Though he was tempted to ask if she wanted to do a very different kind of sparring, Nobu resisted the urge as he already had a prior engagement. He was supposed to accompany Inami, Reina, and Onihime this evening so he needed to get at least some sleep before night fell.

With this in mind, Nobu decided to settle for a bit of skinship. More specifically, he wrapped his arms around Kazue's body, firmly grasping her ass cheeks as he thanks her for helping him train with a long and passionate kiss...

...

..

.

When Reina first became a student of the main house, she hadn't known what to think. All of the teachers back at the Academy had been telling her class how fortunate they were to be given the chance to attend a special course sponsored by a member of the Oda Clan.

Like all the other girls her age, Reina had been excited by the prospect of serving a member of the Oda Clan. They were told it was the greatest of honors, and, if they were lucky, there was a chance they could avoid the inevitable fate of every kunoichi. There was even a chance they could become the personal vassals of the Oda Clan's future Lord, so, during the weeks leading up to the interview, they had received numerous refreshers on etiquette and propriety.

Since her constitution was a bit weaker than other girls, Reina had been afraid that her future Lord would take one look at her before promptly turning her away. Instead, shortly after she introduced herself, he surprised her by asking if she wanted to become a student of the main house. He even expressed concern for her after learning about her mother's death, and, once everything was over, he caressed her head before sending her off to meet with their Clan's Guardian.

When she learned she was going to be studying under the most powerful member of their entire Clan, Reina was genuinely afraid she would be killed the moment she made a mistake. Instead, she learned that Inami-sama was completely different from the rumors. She got annoyed easily, but, instead of lashing out and punishing anyone who offended her, she behaved a lot like their Lord.

Needless to say, Reina was both frightened and confused by how drastically different everything in the main house was. She felt as though she had been lied to throughout her entire schooling, but, upon expressing her concerns to her new Master, she learned it was the opposite. Her teachers had been telling her the truth. The reason things were so different in the main house was because of the influence of their Lord, Oda Nobunaga-sama.

Reina was a little confused at first, but, after learning about her Lord's Heavenly Treasure, everything became clear. She didn't really understand the specifics but she knew enough to know her Lord was far more amazing than the person her teachers had presented him to be.

When she and Chi-Chi were first asked to become her Lord's friend, Reina didn't believe they were worthy of such an honor. She reluctantly agreed after a bit of convincing, and, ever since then, her life had changed in ways she never could have imagined.

Though he seemed to believe he was something called an 'asshole', Reina felt as though her Lord was the kindest person she had ever met. He never acted as though he was above anyone, treated everyone around him with care, and, even when she made mistakes, he would just encourage her to keep trying.

Of course, the thing that left the deepest impression on Reina's young mind was the experience of having her Lord's Aura inserted into her body. He had the ability to permanently increase the Aura of another person and it was inarguably the most amazing thing she had ever experienced. Nothing else even came close.

When Reina first heard Chi-Chi telling her and the other girls how much she loved their Lord, Reina had thought such remarks to be improper. Their Lord was allowed to love them, but, unless he had given them permission, they were supposed to focus on serving him to the best of their abilities.

After receiving her Lord's blessing, Reina's mentality completely changed. It might sound silly, but, the moment she awoke to find herself cradled in his arms, concern visible in his silver-blue eyes, her heart began beating so quickly she felt like it would explode from her chest.

Since then, Reina had gotten along much better with the other girls around her age as they all had similar thoughts toward their Lord. In fact, everyone around him seemed to love and respect him in a way Reina never thought possible. This included the pink-haired onee-san that taught them how to clean the house, their Clan's most respected Elders, and even their Guardian.

When Reina learned that her Master was pregnant with their Lord's children, her mind had basically exploded. As far as she knew, this wasn't something that was allowed. In fact, they had been taught in the Academy that anyone who became pregnant through intercourse with a member of the Oda Clan would be put to death.

To Reina's considerable relief, these rules didn't seem to apply to her Lord. He was such a great man that he was allowed to change or outright ignore such things. This was a little scary to imagine, but, knowing how kind her Lord was, she wasn't afraid he would ever do anything bad. Rather, much like the other girls her age, she was excited by the prospect that she might one day be allowed to carry her Lord's child...

With such thoughts filling her head, Reina was genuinely surprised when her Onihime-san, a girl not much bigger than herself, entered her room, saying, "Reina-chan, it's time to go. Nobunaga-sama is calling for us."

Smiling in a manner that would surprise any of her former classmates, Reina practically bounded to her feet, exclaiming, "Yes~!" before scampering out of the room as fast as her feet could carry her...

...

..

.

(A/N: TFW you're an asshole but reincarnate into a world where most of the people in power are irredeemable cunts xD...)