Zenith's house is large yet easy to navigate, however it seems to change every night. I don't know if it actually does but it feels like it does. He's given us a few days rest before training starts, he made the strict rule of keeping us in separate rooms. According to Akeno every time she'd try and find me she'd get lost in the halls of the house, despite knowing her way around. It appears to be designed off an old english residence. Zenith himself always seemed to be busy with something and had little time to explain things to us. But today he has asked for our audience.

"I'm glad everyone managed to come downstairs for this meeting." He says sarcastically. "As you know you're here for training. My daughter Kara will teach you in the ways of magic having excelled to a much higher level than any of you. And the sword-master named Desmond will train you in combat."

"Who is Desmond?" Rias asks.

"He's almost human so don't worry about that. (Desmond is actually a character that appeared in my dream last night.)" Zenith grins in delight, his human form so much smaller than his real form.

"What do you mean by almost human?" Issei the new addition to the group ponders.

"He's a mongrel vampire. I've known him for about. I can't remember. But it was in this country, he was training to become a Samurai in dimension 67-B. Those were good times. He's about five thousand years old. So go easy on him." His eyes glimmer with excitement.

"Five thousand!?" Akeno questions loudly.

"Yes. Why?"

"That's insane." I claim.

"What age do most humans live to?" Zenith scratches his head.

"One hundred at the most." I inform him.

"How can you accomplish anything in such a short time. I'm fourteen billion and there's still stuff I want to do." We all stand open mouthed but Zenith brushes our glares off. "I have an important meeting with my company to attend. We need to get my dimensional energy levels recharged. So I will see you at dinner." He leaves in hast getting into the same car from the day before.

"I'm starving" a girl speaks from behind me, dressed tightly in a black and red tracksuit she sits at the table like a zombie. Short black hair sits neatly atop her shoulders and she lies with her head in her arms. "Who are you?" Rias asks.

"Me?" She yawns. "I'm Samantha Arachnid. I work for Zenith." She falls onto the table again.

"Why haven't we seen you before?" I ask.

"Hm. Oh, that's because I was on business in another dimension. Zenith asked me to assist him here and in doing so. My dimensional teleporter ran out of power. So me and Zenith are stuck here." She mumbles into the table and starts to snore. "And I will be helping you all with dodging and stances." She adds before returning to sleep. "Does anyone know how to cook with this stuff?" Akeno opens the fridge and inside there's a variety of English foodstuffs. Bacon, eggs, sausages even black pudding. But I guess it must be difficult considering the lack of rice, noodles or anything to sustain a meal. "I do!" Someone shouts from the doorway. A small ginger haired girl with matching cat ear and tail cheers. "Lauren! Zenith ordered me to not let you do anything!" Samantha quickly awakens and stands to attention pointing accusingly at the cat girl. "Please Samantha." She smiles cutely and Sam falls to the ground.

"Your power it's too strong. Please don't do this!" She yells dramatically.

"Master Zenith has informed me that you will all require nourishment." A robotic voice speaks. "That is why I did the smart thing. And woke up Mr Killer." The voice shuts off with a dull drone.

"Who's Mr Killer?" Issei asks slightly worried, gawking at Lauren. She blushes looking away.

"I am" the butler stands in the doorway behind Lauren. His suit freshly ironed and cleaned. "I'm sorry to inform you that I can only prepare English dishes. So you will be given the finest that her majesty's empire has to offer." He says blankly, tilting his head and smiling lightly. Lauren cowers behind him, perhaps hiding from Issei or maybe just social anxiety. Samantha snores loudly on the ground. "Lauren would you kindly wake up Mr Inquisitor." He looks at Lauren and she nods skipping off into the big house.

Eventually the meal is prepared and everyone is sitting and eating together. Mr Killer has gone back to sleep but aside from that the table is full. Me, Rias, Akeno, Koneko, Issei, Kiba, from those who I know well. But then there were Zenith's friends who were strange in every sense of the word. Samantha, Karl, Lauren, Desmond and Kara who as of yet had not woken up but I'm told she is in the house. "This is good." Akeno smiles her leg in contact with mine below the table. "Of course. It's British. (Hail Britannia)" Desmond grins demonically, the fact that he's a vampire only sets me on edge more. "It's okay. But Alex has made better." The one known as Karl Inquisitor says with a bland expression. Goat horns sprouting from his skull, aside from that he seems human. They all seem to have a strange relationship with each other, almost like a family. "Training montage!" Kara appears standing on the table in hero wind.

"Kara." Karl says calmly.

"Yes" she answers looking down at him. Her eyes widen as she realises her foot is in his meal.

"Now you die." He growls and clutches her ankle. He throws her through the wall dust surrounds us.

"Let's say we make this apart of training." Kara laughs standing back up and with a swing of her arm the dust clears. "Y/N, Samantha, Akeno and Lauren you're with me!" Kara cackles mad with power.

"Fine. Desmond you're with me." Karl laughs and Kara shakes with fear.

"So be it!" She sprints at Karl and summons a sword clashing with Karl's hellfire sword.

"Okay kids. First order of business, I have to pick my sword." A vest of sorts appears daggers and combat knives along the front but the back is a different story. Shortswords, Greatswords, longswords and katanas. "I'll go easy on you" he chuckles unsheathing a Greatsword from his back. Both hands wrapped around the hilt he charges, Akeno sends a bolt of electricity towards him and he blocks it with his sword, the power is absorbed into the blade. "This is the elemental sword known as Azgaroth. I got it in medieval Europe. They were very proud of it." He hits a ball back towards us like a baseball, of rippling electricity. Rias blocks the attack. "Hmm I can see only one of you uses elemental magic." He sheathes Azgaroth and pulls out a sword made of bone, "this is the vampire sword Bloodshed, twin to Bloodlust. A sword you are familiar with Y/N" he puts it back "far too powerful for you right now." He grabs a katana.

"Let me get the katana of great killing." Rias says sarcastically.

"No, this is just a katana." He charges at us and kicks my legs from under me, I flip onto my back and he elbows me in the chest winding me. Swinging the sword at Rias she dodges but he slashes with a second sword still in it's sheath. Caught of guard he hits her in the stomach knocking her also onto the ground, hitting her head she squirms in pain. Akeno launches lightning at him and he continuously dodges. With great speed he appears behind her and kicks her to the ground. "I think I win." Something hits him in the face. He looks at it lying on the floor and gulps. "Who did this?" He steps backwards slowly.

"I did" Koneko says with a bunch of garlic in her hands.

"I'll give you a gold star for effort but a vampire gets to a power level where garlic doesn't affect him." He rushes forward his katana drawn. With a burst of wind he crouches behind Koneko and sheathes the blade. Her clothes fall to the ground in various shapes. "Remember guys. Always exploit your enemies weakness." He picks up a towel and throws it at Koneko. "It's not even my day to train them Kara. You're taking tomorrow as well."

"No way!" She shouts her arm demolishing a wall, Karl lies at her feet panting.

"Yes way." Desmond draws a giant flaming Greatsword from his back.

"Okay." She mutters. "I'll meet Y/N and Akeno downstairs in the basement. You two have the most potential with magic." She grabs a slice of toast from Mr Killer who has appeared. "Sorry about the mess." She smiles at him trudging off downstairs.

_________________________________

"So. The first part of magic we will be learning is blocking. This is possibly the most overlooked part of magic but the most useful. First we will learn how to produce a ward that protects against magic and physical attacks." Kara tightens the belt around her waist the same black and red colours that decorate the red of the house decorate her clothes. Her eyes close and a look of relaxation adorns her face. A crimson bubble surrounds her, her concentration ceases and so does the bubble. "That is your typical bubble ward, it will protect anyone inside the bubble. Now. Akeno stay close to Y/N and he will block my magic attack. If not then you will both be injured. This is the reality of the battlefield, so prepare." Copying the movements Kara took I close my eyes and concentrate. The quiet humming of energy build up rings in my ears and then the bang of sudden release.

My teeth jar in my head as the energy impacts on the ward. "That was successful." Kara says and cracks her knuckles. "Akeno, you try the same thing." Akeno repeats the process. Her ward appears around us, Kara sprints at the ward her fists glowing crimson. She punches the bubble and the ground cracks around her, we move back slightly from the impact. "Akeno, that was amazing. That's one of the most powerful wards I've ever seen. Now you both will attack me." Without closing her eyes the bubble shield is summoned and then a second appears a small gap between them. Finally four small hexagonal wards spin around the shield slowly. "This is the true potential of a ward spell."

"Let's do this." Xenwrath chuckles and the gauntlet appears. Akeno brings lightning upon the bubble, the smaller wards move to the impact points blocking the electrical attacks. While the wards are distracted I charge at the larger bubble and punch with the gauntlet. One of the small wards blocks me and my wrist cracks slightly under the impact force. "The pinpoint wards are much stronger than the bubble wards. They can block attacks much more effectively depending on the users skill." The larger bubble splits into smaller wards and the attack point becomes a moving mass. Small wards ripple around Kara blocking her from view. Me and Akeno continue our attacks to no avail.

A rush of wind sweeps through the room and the wards shatter completely. Standing at the centre Desmond has a purple katana held to Kara's throat. "And that kids is why swords are superior to magic." He sheathes the purple blade. "Isn't the Muramasa a magic blade?" Kara smirks.

"That's not the point." He growls back.

"Besides we all know that Hellfire is the best." Karl staNds with his back against the wall.

"Shut up Karl!" They both say glaring at him. It soon breaks down into a full scale battle between the three of them so me and Akeno leave...

Author's Notes - now you're staying in my mansion. So bloody behave yourselves and no sex! Zenith Out..