She claimed the outfit helped her blend in better, but she was obviously enjoying it.
Girls in clothes they don't normally wear… there's something refreshing about that. Honestly? It's amazing.
"I'm baaack~! I got the extra paint and everything else you said you were missing~"
"Thanks, Kuroka. Could you set it over there?"
"Aye-aye, nya~"
Since Kuroka isn't officially a student, she helps indirectly, running errands, preparing tea, and so on. The old her would've just said, "Too much trouble! I'm out, good luck, nya~!" But now she's willing to pitch in, at least when it's for friends.
Of course, she immediately pulled out some snacks from the bag and started munching on them. That's classic Kuroka.
And if you're wondering whether carrying all that paint would be heavy for a girl, well, she's a devil, and even if she's a spellcaster type, she trains regularly and even spars with Shirone, so she can hold her own in close combat. Not as well as when she's fighting with magic, obviously, but still.
As I drifted into these thoughts, I noticed Rias was working on her sewing with a distracted look, her mind clearly elsewhere.
"Rias-oneesama? Thinking too much while sewing is dangerous," Asia gently pointed out.
Snapping back to reality, Rias gave a sheepish smile. "Ah, sorry. Thank you, Asia."
"My, my... Could it be that you're this worried because your Rating Game with Sairaorg-sama is approaching?"
"Yes, I just can't help but think about it. He's in a different league compared to someone like Diadora Astaroth… I haven't seen the power Issei awakened in Kyoto yet, but Ikki, from your perspective, do you think it would work against Sairaorg?"
"Hmm. If it lands, it'll deal serious damage... But each form has its own quirks, so if the enemy knows what to expect, they can probably dodge it. It might work against someone like Sairaorg, but not against a finesse-type opponent. Honestly, it probably wouldn't work on someone like Cao Cao anymore."
"Cao Cao... leader of the Hero Faction, right? He even crossed blades with Azazel. Honestly, fighting someone like that scares me. Are you saying Issei's new move doesn't work on you anymore, either?"
"Ahaha, well... You'll just have to watch the next time we spar. That said, his new technique, True Monk, affects a pretty wide area, so it's not really something we can test in the house's underground training room."
Even with strong barriers, if Issei keeps growing in power, a mishap could destroy both our homes above ground. That's why we haven't fought using his new form yet.
"Oh, don't worry about that. As a reward for helping thwart all those recent terrorist attacks, we were granted a special training field in a remote area of the Gremory territory. Top-tier Rating Game players have things like that, but I never expected to get one before even making my debut. Even if the barrier breaks, the damage will be minimal, so Issei can really go all-out now. By the way, do you think Issei might already surpass you in raw power?"
"In terms of destructive power? Sure. But in terms of pinpoint penetration, where I concentrate all my aura into one spot, I still win."
"...I tried concentrating my aura into a single fingertip once. Didn't work."
She laughed awkwardly as she said it, which meant she had definitely tried it.
It's probably harder than it looks. I've been using Ittou Shura since I was little, so I'm used to controlling power that exceeds my limits. For me, it came naturally.
"My lack of destructive power is still a major weakness I need to overcome."
As soon as I said that, everyone in the room turned to look at me. Huh? What's with this weird pressure?
"You can shatter Issei's armor with the aftershock of your strikes, and you still think your power is lacking? That doesn't sound like a weakness to me..."
"That may be so... But let me ask this: In that mock battle with Sairaorg, when both of us were fully powered up, whose fighting spirit felt stronger to you?"
"...Yours did, Ikki."
"Right. But even then, when we traded punches, there wasn't much difference in actual impact. Why? ...Gasper, can I borrow you for a second?"
"Eh!? Wh-what is it, Ikki-senpai?"
Gasper flinched, startled that the conversation had turned to him.
I motioned for him to sit across the table in the middle of the room.
"Gasper. Let's arm wrestle!"
"Eeeeehh!? Wait, what!? That's way too sudden! There's no way I could beat you! I can't even throw shockwaves with my fists!"
"Don't worry about it!"
"Mmh. If you're a guy, you shouldn't back down from an arm-wrestling challenge."
"Indeed. Arm wrestling... is the sacred battleground of men!"
"Oh my, ufufu Then I shall give the signal."
"Whyyy is everyone so fired up about arm wrestling!?"
While Gasper looked on in despair, we clasped hands and waited for Akeno-senpai to start.
"Ready... Begin!"
THUD!
The match ended almost as soon as it began.
"Owwwww!!"
"And the winner is… Gasper-kun!"
Everyone stared in shock.
"Ikki, what just happened? Did you let him win?"
Rias asked, concerned, as I healed my bruised knuckles with senjutsu.
"Nope, I gave it my all, but only with my raw, human strength. I didn't use any aura at all. That's what a normal human's limits look like. Not everyone can be like Sairaorg, who can wield aura just from training their body. If that were the case, the human Olympics would be a monster parade. Long story short, even if I strengthen myself with aura, my base stats are still weak, so there's a ceiling to how much I can improve my attack power."
"But... couldn't you fire off your aura like a projectile, similar to a ki blast? That would make for a powerful ranged attack, wouldn't it?"
Gasper had a good point. A ranged attack with solid impact would've made follow-up strikes easier against foes like Cao Cao. Maybe I could have landed a senjutsu strike right after throwing him off balance.
But Kuroka answered before I could.
"Mmm~ That's pretty tough, nya. Aura on its own tends to evaporate the moment it's separated from the body. Shirone and I can mix ours with youki or magic to create something like an aura blast, but pure humans like you, Ikki, can't manage that. Some members of the Five Principal Clans can do it by borrowing huge amounts of aura from dragon ley lines, but even then, they mix it with the contracted dragon's power to make it work."
So that's probably why senjutsu users tend to lack direct offensive power.
Devils and gods usually build on their innate magical or divine powers. Humans, even if they learn senjutsu, have to work much harder to strengthen their bodies, and even then, their ranged attacks won't have much kick. Sure, we're great at reconnaissance and support, but our raw offense is still lacking.
"...When Ikki overcomes that gap, he'll be terrifying. He'd have no weaknesses, melee, ranged, offense, defense, support... nothing."
"To defeat Ikki-sama, we'd need to surpass him through sheer power alone. Unless, of course, he holds back."
"Well, in any case, let's focus on Sairaorg's upcoming match. If you'd like, I can spar with you while mimicking his fighting style."
"Fufu. I'd appreciate that. All right, everyone! Let's prepare properly so we can train to our hearts' content! We're going to give our all in both the cultural festival and the Rating Game!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
And with that, everyone returned to their work...