I stood in the middle of a wide, empty field, my breath coming out in little puffs in the chilly morning air. The sun was just starting to rise, casting a warm orange glow across the area and I couldn't help but feel a little… well, out of pce. This wasn't exactly how I imagined my day going. Then again, I hadn't exactly imagined any of this when I was living my normal life.

  But here I was in the shackles of Grayfia—one of the most powerful devils in existence for this goddamn neckce around my neck. A neckce that, for reasons I can't entirely expin, seemed to signal my "affiliation" with Ophis, the Infinite dragon. But thanks to her husband, it was swayed off and I was clear and no more worries about getting trials in Underworld.

  Today, though, my focus was on something else: training. Because Sirzechs, the Demon Lord, had decided that I should participate in the Rating Game as a human. A human, yeah sounds great isn't it?. And Grayfia, the ice-cold beauty who I was now supposed to train under, had agreed to help me get ready for it. Fun, right?

  Hell no! This woman have been beefing me ever since we first met and I don't know what hell she is going to put me through. It was hard to see through her stoic fa?ade if she was serious when she said, "It's going to be hell so you better prepare yourself and don't cry to leave"

  She pced her finger on the neckce as it glowed with faint white light for few moments before it calmed down and I could feel new power coursing through me. Even it wasn't my reach yet, I could feel the presence of it within me. Demonic power

  "Are you ready to begin?" Grayfia's voice cut through my thoughts, direct and calm as always. She was standing there, looking like she'd been in a pce that she would never want to, her expression said it all despite her masking it. I didn't know what it was about her, but I couldn't seem to stop myself from feeling a little intimidated. She is one of the most powerful devil afterall.

  "Yeah, sure," I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt. Inside, I was scrambling for something to hold onto. This is nothing bro, you can do it. You are not a weakling, you've seen shit much worse than the one you're about to see.

  My mind raced as I gnced at the field. This wasn't a test I could afford to fail. I wasn't some devil with magic coursing through my veins. I was just a human, a guy who had somehow stumbled into this mess. I hope I am not a protagonist or else I would shoot my author myself and make him edit my life to better one.

  I took a deep breath and raised my hand. Nothing spectacur happened. Just a few tiny ice crystals forming around my fingers like I was trying to grow a miniature snowfke. I am not good at magic? Bsphemy!

  "Not bad," Grayfia said, her eyes scanning me, almost as if she were looking for something that wasn't quite there yet. "But that's not enough. You need to focus your magic, control it."

  "Yeah, sure, easy for you to say," I muttered under my breath. "You're a freaking devil."

  She raised an eyebrow at me, probably hearing my compint, but didn't respond. "Ice magic isn't just about freezing things. It's about control, patience and calmness, so don't try to half guess it and use your imagination"

  Calm? I took a step back, trying to clear my mind. I wasn't sure how she did it, but Grayfia seemed to command the ice, bending it to her will with the same ease I breathed. For me, it felt like trying to juggle fire while riding a unicycle on a tightrope

  I clenched my fist, focusing again. I felt the cold energy beginning to gather in my palm, something—some spark of magic that I could almost grab hold of. I forced it to grow, concentrating harder this time.

  A little ice shard grew from my hand. A little too jagged for my taste, but at least it was something.

  Grayfia's gaze was still stiff as ever "Better. But still too unstable."

  "Geez, you're tough. It's improvement though" I said, a bit of frustration leaking into my tone. My fingers were starting to feel numb from the cold, and I could feel the weight of her expectations pressing down on me.

  She nodded once, her face as expressionless as ever "I expect nothing less from you. You need to control your emotions if you want to wield magic properly. Magic—especially ice magic—is born of a calm mind. Without that, it will slip from your grasp. So don't overthink and try again"

  I nodded absently. I can do this, right? I wasn't a devil, but that didn't mean I couldn't make progress. Hell, I wasn't going to let this defeat me, I can do this. I am far more capable, this is nothing to get so worked up. Just stay focused and use your imagination.

  "Again," she commanded, her voice like an ice-cold whip.

  Of course. Again. I gritted my teeth, ignoring the frustration that was bubbling up inside of me. This wasn't easy, but I wasn't about to quit. I clenched my fist, feeling the demonic energy surging through again. This time, I focused on keeping it steady, not letting it flicker or crack.

  A bigger shard of ice shot out from my hand, more controlled this time. Not perfect, but it was an improvement. Grayfia didn't speak for a moment, but the look in her eyes told I blew it.

  "Good," she said, though the praise felt like it came from someone who didn't really do praise all that often. "But you still need more control. This was a small step forward. Now, let's continue until I am satisfied with the results"

  . . .

  Two hours ter…

  My body felt like it had been ran over by a truck. My arms were sore, my legs were shaky, and my mind felt like it was turning to mush. I had spent the st two hours throwing ice magic in every possible direction, trying to control the stuff with varying degrees of success.

  This is insane. My hands were shaking as I wiped the sweat from my brow, still feeling the sting of cold from all the ice bsts Grayfia had me create. And the worst part? She looked like she hadn't seen the results that she was looking for.

  "Focus. Again," Grayfia said, her voice as unwavering as ever. She is a devil…oh yeah how could I forget that.

  I took another deep breath. I can do this. I have to do this. I needed to get stronger, faster, better—especially if I want to learn devil magic. The whole reason for me going through this hell week was to learn about Devil magic and use it on future purposes and that didn't include rating game because I knew it won't push me to the corner to use this magic.

  This whole training sessions for next 9 days was for two purposes: One, I would learn how to use demonic magic with different types and second one, was to piss off Grayfia after she see me win the rating game without using this magic at all and make her regret wasting time and energy on me.

  This time, I forced the magic into a ball, careful not to let it get too out of control. The sphere of ice hovered in front of me, bristling with power. My fingers tingled as I pushed more energy into it, and the ball grew bigger

  "Now" Grayfia instructed, her eyes narrowing.

  Throw it? Seriously? But I didn't have time to argue. I unched the ice sphere into the air, and with a satisfying crack, it exploded on the ground, sending ice shards scattering in every direction. The ground around it was coated with a yer of frost, and I stood there, panting, wondering if that was enough.

  "That's… something, right?" I asked, trying to sound casual, but I could hear the exhaustion in my own voice.

  Grayfia's lips twitched. I could almost swear I saw a hint of approval in her eyes. "You've improved. But this is only the beginning. There's much more to learn before the Rating Game."

  I exhaled slowly, letting my shoulders slump. "Great. More training. Just what I needed."

  She gave me a small nod, her eyes scanning me as if measuring my progress. "I'll be expecting more from you tomorrow. This was a warmup session for the upcoming training"

  Warmup? Is she crazy?

  As the sun dipped lower in the sky, signaling the end of another brutal training session, I couldn't help but feel a strange mix of exhaustion and… accomplishment. It wasn't much, but I had improved. And if Grayfia thought I could do it, maybe there was a chance I could make it in the Rating Game.

  "You did well today," Grayfia said as we walked back to the house, her voice colder than the ice I had just been throwing around "Be there by time tomorrow or else I would make your training session twice as hard than I intend to"

  How the fuck Sirzechs is still married to her?

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