(Your POV, a two and a half weeks later)

I jumped back to avoid a slash that was coming at me from Scathach before lunging back to avoid a kick. I created three light daggers and spun around before releasing them one by one to hand at the target's feet. Scathach jumped back to avoid the daggers made of light, landing on the ground. I stomped my bare foot on the ground to encase Scathach's left foot in vines that erupted from the ground. I used this opportunity to aim my Lauer at Scathach and used a salt magic infused bullet to shoot at the woman. Scathach cut the bullet in half midair, only for it to explode into multiple white crystals. The crystals managed to scare my teacher while I threw down a smoke bomb in front of her. This smoke bomb in particular was full of a gas that should paralyze Scathach. Thanks to my training, I was immune to all poisons, so I was able to breathe it.

Scathach breathed the gas as I rushed towards her, but the poison was gonna need some time to kick in, so I decided to interrupt her focus and attack her. I held up a single finger like a conductor's wand and summoned an ethereal (f/c) drum behind Scathach. Like a ghost was beating it, the drum boomed with music as I put aside my gun by putting in my sheathe to draw Gae Bulg and Genbu. I charged at Scathach and tried slashing at her with my spear, but the woman managed to parry the strike with her own spear. I let go of the spear to strike Scathach in the stomach with Genbu, then I shot out the anchor to send her back.

I summoned a clone made of salt to hold Genbu while I summoned bubbles around him. I donned my jester's mask after grabbing Gae Bulg and turned invisible whilst summoning my wings to fly. I soared into the air and pulled out multiple thick disks that had scanners at the top. I hovered around the battlefield while deploying these small machines around Scathach. My clone blocked a strike from Scathach using the shield before attempting to strike at her with the anchor. Each of the discs I deployed suddenly started ejecting steam from the bottom of their forms. These were steampunked land mines, which hone in on enemies quietly. I deactivated my invisibility directly above Scathach. I unsheathed my gun and shot it at Scathach, forcing her to either block or dodge, unfortunately for her, I came up with a back up for both possibilities.

Scathach avoided my bullets, but half of them turned to hone in on her, catching her off guard and forcing Scathach to block the ones that were heading towards her. The ones that hone in are infused with water magic, but they don't hone in, they have an ability called Free Flow. Meaning they never lose any momentum or speed, and they can be controlled. Scathach responded to this with a smirk before flipping over to my clone and disarming him. Scathach used my clone to absorb all the bullets, but what she didn't expect is for me to use that to my advantage. I threw my Gae Bulg at the woman before outstretching a hand to Genbu. Like a magnet, my weapon returned to me, allowing me to lock the weapon into place. I used the anchor to throw at Scathach, forcing her to choose. She can't block both weapons because of their angle, and she inhaled some of my poison from earlier, so even if she does black both of them, the poison will kick in. Scathach dodged both of them, but the poison finally kicked in, forcing her to fall flat on her face. To ensure my victory, the steampunked landmines surrounded her, but didn't go off.

"Don't move, Lady Scathach, if you do, my landmines will go off." I explained before snapping my fingers away from my teacher, forcing the landmines to move away from her. "I'll inject an antidote if you'd like."

"What? Hesitant to let a little old woman go?" Scathach sarcastically commented as I flipped her onto her back and used a needle to inject anti venom. "Congrats, after two weeks of non stop fighting, you finally won, yet you're not even tired are you?"

"This is exhaustion?" The feeling felt new to me, and I was breathing heavily, not as much as Scathach, but this is certainly a new feeling for me, even if it is barely noticeable. "I can still keep going for another couple of weeks if it took this long for me to get this tired."

"Heh, and the best part is that close quarters may not even be your strong suit." Scathach pointed out as she began moving her arms again. "I just can't do that many ranged attacks, so I forced you to fight me in close quarters. You've got a good aim, great support abilities, and more than enough skills that make traps, so I think you should start focusing on long ranged combat."

"Look, you both are terrifying enough, can you two just take a break?" Azazel was seen carrying four lunch boxes, despite the fact that there were only three of us. "Have you guys even eaten anything?"

"Nah, (Y/N)'s been training, and the only things he did eat were the small snacks that boost his stats, but those were like one a day and about the size of someone's finger." Scathach explained, and Azazel looked at me in shock. "To work on his cooking skills, I taste tested several dishes (Y/N) made to make sure they're edible, since (Y/N) will eat anything other than fish."

"Damn, then I'm glad I brought you three lunch boxes." Azazel handed me three lunch boxes before handing the last one to Scathach. "Rias, Asia, and Akeno made them. Though I'm surprised Rias could cook."

"Hm?" I looked at the lunchboxes, and Rias' contained a note. I sat on the ground beneath me and examined the note, noticing that it read 'I miss you (Y/N), so I wanted to make you something. Eat up <3'. I opened the box and noticed several rice balls. They were all messy, but Rias did her best to make them, so I'm eating them. To my surprise, the rice balls were good. I would have savoured the rice balls more, but my appetite got the better of me, so I ate all the packed lunches in no time. Once I finished, I actually paid attention to Scathach and Azazel's conversation.

"With this training, (Y/N) can fight head to head with that White Lizard or whatever his name is." Scathach bragged, and I had my doubts, but I did feel stronger. "Light weapons no longer work on him, and he's got more tricks up his sleeve than ever. So I'm confident that he'll win."

"Scathach, we've only seen him in his Balance Breaker, what about his Juggernaut Drive?" Azazel asked, and I don't think I've heard of that power. "Vali's trying to learn to properly use his Juggernaut Drive, and given how much of a dumbass the current Red Dragon is, (Y/N) is our only hope of at least standing a chance."

"Please don't belittle my friends like that." I turned around to face the talking adults. "So what's this juggernaut drive you've mentioned? Is it a stronger version of the Balance Breaker?"

"Not necessarily." Azazel tried finding the words to explain it. "To oversimplify it, a balance breaker is the strongest form of a sacred gear. Of course, there are exceptions to that rule. If a sacred gear has a powerful being sealed within them, like the Boosted Gear, then the sacred gear has these special suppressors to ensure the user's safety. Juggernaut Drive is the removal of these suppressors, and the power that's granted could be godlike, but it comes with a risk. The user pretty much goes beserk, and can only be stopped when they're on the brink of death."

"Do you think it's possible for Issei to unlock this power?" I asked, and Azazel looked at me with a serious expression. "If so, then I'll have to come up with a neutralization poison."

"That's the thing (Y/N), do you know why I had you learn how to remove sacred gears?" Azazel asked, and I began to understand. "Issei's training is a test, if he fails, I'm going to have you and Akeno remove it. I don't want any unnecessary casualties, so removing it would be the best possible action. The best candidates for its power would be you or Rias."

"I'd give it to Rias." I didn't miss a beat, surprising Azazel, must be because I was so obsessed with getting stronger.

"That's surprising, but why her?" Azazel asked, and I called Mule over, causing the robot to run to me before stopping directly in front of me, I opened one of the bags and pulled out a bunch of letters. "Envelopes?"

"No, these are people asking to join my Peerage." I handed Azazel the letters from Quetzalcoatl, Sangkuriang, Irina, and Miach. "I inspired hope in all these people because I don't have a sacred gear, I fought using what little talents I have, and compliment them with skills anyone could learn. If I get a sacred gear, then I will lose what inspired these people in the first place. So Rias should get it instead. Besides, it matches her hair."

"Man you've grown." Azazel chuckled under his breath and handed me back my envelopes. "When I first met you, you reminded me of just some random soldier ready to die at any given moment. Now here you stand, knowing how to make yourself well liked amongst the people while also enhancing your allies. Well done. Say, did you know that fairy tales exist?"

"I kind of figured that out when I read a letter from the Oz and the Thee Musketeers." I held up letters from those respective characters. "Even if I did have a peerage, I don't think I could recruit all of them."

"I have a suggestion, why not just keep in touch with them?" Azazel advised, and I'm not sure how that will work. "Just write them letters back and try to be friendly to them. Due to most of them being all over the world, you could have someone you know everywhere you go."

"So...I would have more friends?" I tilted my head, I never really understood political stuff, so I automatically simplified it.

"I'm sure if people would like to be just friends with their hero, so sure." Azazel was caught off guard by my simplicity. "I was honestly suggesting you take advantage of them, but now I feel like a dick."

"Okay then, I'll read all of them!" I opened up an envelope from Paul Bunyan and examined it thoroughly, and only now did the issue of language barriers occur to me. "I can't read English."

"Oh yeah, the language barrier." Azazel examined the letter. "To oversimplify what the letter's saying, he's asking you to visit his cabin so he could meet you in person. He thinks he would make a good rook piece."

"Isn't he that giant lumberjack with a blue ox?" I questioned the fallen angel, who thought for a minute before nodding. "On offense and defense missions he would be spectacular, but stealth missions are out of the question. Also, oxen are nice."

"Wait a minute...most of these guys were made fairly recent compared to those of us in the three factions." Azazel began looking through all the envelopes. "Puss in Boots, Gepetto, Cheshire, Jack, and Sinbad? Like 80% of these are new guys."

"Wait, is his name just Jack?" I examined the note from Jack, butI can't read his letter either. "Like Jack and the Beanstalk?"

"Well, Jack had a wild life." Azazel began explaining Jack to me. "You know how so many fairy tales involve some guy named Jack? Like Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack and Jill, Stingy Jack, Pumpkin Jack, Jack Frost, and Jack be Nimble? Those are all talking about the same guy. So yeah, he's just made so many bad life decisions that he ended up becoming a headless god of winter."

"How does someone manage to do that?" I asked the fallen angel, who shrugged. "Anyhow, I recommend you try befriending Oz, Gepetto, Quetzalcoatl, Sangkuriang, and Jack first, since they could be the most helpful."

"But I want to befriend all of them." I was determined to make as many friends as possible, because friends are nice.

"I should have saw this coming, and I feel stupid for not preparing a translation spell." Azazel sweatdropped as I pulled some spare paper out of my bag along with a pen. "Feel free to write in Japanese, I'm sure all of them have access to some way to translate it."

I responded to everyone's letters after reading them personally, and by that I had Azazel read them outloud since Scathach was now asleep. The ones I found most odd were Cheshire's, who spoke exclusively in riddles, and it took me and Azazel a couple of minutes to get a hint of what he was trying to say. Sangkuriang's letter was fairly normal, but his letter made it clear that while he won't bow to me, he's all for working together. Quetzalcoatl's letter was pretty down to earth, and even gave me a spell for me to summon the feathered serpent should I be in trouble. I responded to everyone's letter in three hours, and asked Azazel a question I've been wondering about.

"So how is everyone, are they okay?" I asked, and Azazel was about to walk away, I got a bad feeling. "Azazel, if you run away, I'll inject you with paralysis poison, so tell me if they're okay."

"They're all doing okay, but Koneko passed out while training..." Azazel looked away from me, and he already knew what I was going to do. "She just passed out from exhaustion, she was training incredibly hard so she won't have to rely on her suppressed power."

"Please tell me important stuff first!" I requested Azazel before changing into my seal form and my devil wings, which were also white and fluffy to match my fur. "Thank you Lady Scathach, but I must be off! I made a concoction earlier that restores stamina, it's in Mule's third bag!"

"Wha-?" Scathach woke up from her nap in a daze, wondering why I called out to her.

With that said,I began soaring towards the Gremory Estate. Due to my seal body's more aerodynamic form, I was able to move faster towards the castle-like mansion. I saw Venelana in the gardens drinking tea with Zeoticus, and they both noticed me. Given how I'm the only seal with wings that should be here, they waved at me. I soared around the castle, looking through the windows in search of Koneko, then I found here. I burst through the open window and turned back to my normal form, surprising Koneko, who was sitting in a hospital room all by herself. I didn't even bother changing into my regular form, I was too worried.

"Koneko, are you alright?!" I asked whilst waving my flippers around. "I have some strew that could be able to heal you on Mule, I just need to summon it. Why did you push yourself too hard, I was worried sick about you!"

"(Y/N)...?" Koneko then turned onto her side like she didn't want to see me, then I noticed something on her head. "Why are you here?"

Cat ears. White, fluffy cat ears were on her head.

I didn't care if Koneko wanted to see me or not, I was focused on making sure she was okay. I summoned Mule in front of me with a clap of my flippers, a command that Sona most likely put in. I pulled out a cocktail shaker, a healing potion I made using Druidic knowledge, a stamina potion, some strawberry juice, and some other liquids that I can weave together. Due to me combining my knowledge as a cook, chemist, druid, and jester, I somehow ended up with the skills of a mixologist. While Koneko can't drive because she's under age, I can still make nonalcoholic drinks that enhance stats. The drink I'm making in particular is Vita, a potent healing drink with better taste and effectiveness than a healing potion. What's a drink without a meal? I grabbed the Cauldron of Plenty and pulled out a bowl from one of Mule's bags and poured some (not really specified so just go with your favorite stew) stew from the cauldron. I poured my magic power into the Cauldron already, so you could heal yourself just by eating from it. I placed a small table on Koneko's lap before giving her the stew along with a spoon, then I placed the Vita drink on the nightstand beside the girl.

"What are you doing, you didn't answer my question?" Koneko pointed out while I finally turned back into my human form, revealing me wearing a shirt that was covered in blood, dirt, and sweat.

"I'm making sure you're okay, and eat up, my meals can now heal people as well as enhance their abilities to a certain point." I explained calmly, then I noticed Rias and Akeno were standing at the door.

"Did Scathach's training turn you into the ultimate butler?" Akeno asked whilst Rias tackled me into a hug like a child reuniting with their guardian. "My my Rias, you're quite excited to see him again."

"Of course I am, I missed him..." Rias was wearing a pair of glasses, and honestly, I think she looked good with glasses.

"I was sweating earlier, so I am terribly sorry if the smell bothers you." I commented on the sweating part, even when I sweat when I'm pushed past a certain limit.

"It's fine, I missed you and you smell nice, so let me recharge." Rias huffed, and I felt as though we were leaving Koneko out, but she was eating what I gave her, so it's fine.

"I've ignored it for long enough, but why does Koneko have cat ears?" I asked, and Rias broke the hug to look me dead in the eyes.

"For that, I think I need to tell you a story."

(A/N: Here's a little bit of trivia; in his book, Issei and (Y/N) represent tradition and change Issei could represent tradition because his presence doesn't change hell all that much, even in the anime, and no political system really changes with him. As for (Y/N), he represents the change that comes with time. His fighting style is more modern compared to everyone else's, most of his contacts are fairly new (Puss in Boots, Gepetto, Pumpkin Jack), and he fights like a modern soldier while almost everyone else uses magic or sacred gears. Issei represents the fact that you have to be born a certain way in order to become powerful in the past, and (Y/N) represents how someone can become stronger by working hard enough. Think about it, who would you follow? Someone who was born rich with no other skills, or someone who's worked hard to get where he is. With that serious stuff aside, how do you convince your friends that you're not a god?