The large form of Tannin was floating above the mountain with his arms crossed. "Come on Hatchling! You can do better than that!" He goaded Haru who was currently running closer to the dragon king's airborne form.
"You want better?!" He roared out. "I'll show you better!" With a mighty leap Haru closed in on Tannin. Cocking his arm back he felt a familiar magical power surging up his arm. Feeling good from the rush of energy he let the punch fly forward while roaring out. "Fire Dragon Emperor's Iron Fist!" Haru's left hand had lit up with a roaring fire that blasted forth aimed at Tannin's gut.
The strike was stopped by the thick clawed hand of the dragon king. Haru was not disturbed by this as he tried to push more power into his punch. Tannin smirked a little as the boy's flaming arm was coated with his dragon aura, making it all the more powerful. He's gotten better these past few weeks. He inwardly complemented the hatchling who was actually making his hand sting a little from his attack. "Not good enough boy!" Tannin roared out, pushing Haru's fist to the side before hitting him with his own large fist.
"Gu!" Haru coughed a little as he was sent crashing to the ground. The pain, while intense, was not as bad as before making him able to catch himself before creating another crater. Flipping his whole body, he landed in a crouch, his feet making the rock crumble a bit, before launching himself back at the dragon. "If you think that will stop me, you're a crazy old man!" Haru said with a confident grin.
It had been eight days, fifteen all together, since he came back from the Gremory house and he was making true to his promise of getting stronger for the girls in his life. When he came back to the mountain he started off with the same things he'd done since he got here. Dodging Tannin's attacks, trying to attack back, and building up his muscles and stamina to where he could lift up the stone from day one with not as much of his dragon power as he first did while continuing to dodge Tannin for two days straight. After said two days of running around he talked to his partner in his mind while sleeping
Three nights ago…
"Ugh! Why am I here again?!" Haru moaned out in serious pain. His muscles were burning him as he was floating in the sea of fire where he first met Ddraig.
[I thought we might have a little chat, face-to-face.] Ddraig's voice reached his ears. Unlike before he only looked with half-lidded eyes at the red dragon that appeared from the inferno of his mind.
"What is it this time?" He asked, a little irritated at the fact he was interrupted from a nice dream where he was making love to Rias. This was the first erotic dream he'd had in the past fourteen days and honestly he was slightly surprised he hadn't had one until now. Another part of him was happy he had become less open with his stupidity and less lustful over girls.
[I was thinking of perhaps teaching you a magic that would do very well with your personality.] The old dragon informed Haru whose interest was now piqued.
"Really?" Haru asked. "It would be nice to actually fight from a distance once in a while." Haru thought about how he fought and looked back on his battles before. The boy took a lot more damage than needed to win against the opponents he had and if he knew some ranged moves he could have provided better support when it was needed. "What is it? Is it something cool like being able to blast things with my fist?" Haru asked with childish excitement.
Ddraig let out a little snort that could be assumed as a chuckle. [In time, yes you could.] Haru smiled bigger at this. "What's it called and when can I start!?" He was now bouncing off the walls, figuratively obviously, as he waited for what he would learn from his partner now.
[It's an ancient magic most have forgotten. I'm going to teach you Dragon-Slayer Magic.] Ddraig said to his partner.
"D-Dragon-Slayer magic?" The boy questioned the great red dragon. "D-Does that mean I could actually kill a dragon if need be?" He said in after thought as he really didn't want to kill a dragon now that he was being trained by two dragons who have helped him greatly up to this point.
Ddraig nodded his massive head before talking in a reminiscent tone. [Yes. It's been lost for ages but long ago there were dragons who actually taught humans how to kill dragons.] Seeing his partner's surprised face he shook his great head. [That is a talk for a later time. Let's just focus on the basics.] The sealed Heavenly Dragon began to teach his new container the basics of drawing on Dragon-Slayer magic.
Back at the present…
"Fire Dragon Emperor's Claw!" The bottom of the teen's foot burst alive with brilliant flames as he kicked his left foot at his teacher. The dragon, landing on the ground took the attack head on with his head. Wincing a little, feeling the slight sting from the flames once more, the dragon grabbed his student's leg before throwing him off. Again, Haru corrected himself only to get hit by the former dragon king's large fist.
"Ga!" Haru grunted at the crushing force of Tannin's blow. Skipping along the rocks for a few meters he suddenly thrusted his hand out and caught his body against the earth and began to steady himself. Now skidding he raised his head to see fire coming at him.
Remembering what Ddraig said, Haru rose full height before inhaling as the fire was upon him. Tannin looked on with an impressed gaze at his student who was able to consume his weakened fire. He's gotten pretty good at this even after learning the basics. He's a natural.
The intense fire soon died down and Haru was arching his back, letting the fire restore his body. "Ah! That's so good!" The dragon slayer said with a happy expression. "Thanks for the meal, old man. Now I can kick your butt!" Haru said with a smirk while punching his left fist into his open right hand.
[Don't get too cocky, partner. I know you were struggling to eat those flames.] Ddraig said to his partner. He had warned Haru about eating fire that was beyond his own power but he, of course, didn't listen to him.
Hehe. Haru chuckled sheepishly in his mind. He could just feel Ddraig looking at him with a deadpanned expression. I thought I could handle that much. And I did. You have to give me credit for that! He somewhat whined to the wise dragon.
[Ugg!] The red dragon moaned in mock anger. [I suppose so. Just stop being so stupid with eating fire. I swear you are such a moron.] This was something he liked about his current host. He talked to him and he (Ddraig) actually liked talking to him as well. There was just something about the boy that made you like him.
Hey! I like to think I've gotten smarter! Haru let an angry expression cross his face. But any further conversation was stopped by Tannin's reply. "Just because you ate my fire doesn't mean you can beat me." Tannin said with amusement spilling from his voice. "And besides… that fire is still weak compared to my full power."
"Well…how much did you put into this one?" He asked. Haru knew he held back a lot but he liked to think he's gotten stronger and deserved to know how much of his true power he was using after training for so hard.
Tannin decided to indulge him. "That was about twenty percent. Compared to me using five percent just fourteen days ago is impressive." Haru gained a big head at that with his smug grin. "But you're still a hatchling." Tannin let out a guff of laughter when Haru face-faulted to the ground.
Getting up with a tick-mark, the dragon slayer in training came back even harder at his teacher. His training continued into the wee hours of the day before Haru had collapsed from sheer exhaustion. Tannin was resting on a rock formation next to the boy. Unlike before, he had some scorch marks, showing that his student was actually able to harm him, if only a little.
"It's a shame you're training ends tomorrow boy. While you have gained a great amount of power and progressed increased in your smarts, it's a shame you didn't reach [Balance Breaker]." Tannin spoke.
Haru still panting a little, sat up and looked at his teacher. "Yeah. Sorry I couldn't Sensei." He apologized. "I guess I just needed more time than fifteen day to reach it." Haru said with a slightly sullen face.
[Don't be so discouraged, partner.] Ddraig comforted his partner. [While true you didn't attain Balance Breaker you were able to make great strides in power and experience. Along with your Dragon-Slayer magic becoming stronger each day. You should feel proud.] The red dragon said with sincerity.
"He's right, kid." Tannin backed up the Heavenly dragon. "When you started you were mid-Mid-Class Devil strength. Now, after fifteen intense training days, I'd say you were a low-High-Class Devil in power. Not too shabby… for a Hatchling." He ended with his nickname he had used.
Haru let out a grateful smile at the fact his teachers were complementing his growth. "Thanks, Senseis." He thanked the two before letting sleep take him over.
While he slept the two were talking about some things. "Do you really think the boy is ready for the fight to come?"
[Yes. I really believe he'll surprise those watching. While some will question the power, mainly those who have seen the Slayer-art, he'll be fine.] Ddraig said to his old friend.
Tannin let out an "Hmm" before closing his eyes for slumber.