Balor ran with a sluggish stride as sweat ran down his face. Each foot fall seemed to sap more and more of his energy as he tried to push the limits of Yasaka's inherent ability to control lifeforce. Even with her blood helping him use his energy it quickly became apparent that learning senjutsu was far more difficult than he anticipated. He had thought, with how easily he could manipulate his shadow, that it would be easy for him to learn another form of magic. Pain had been his reward for being overconfident.
Across the field Balor traveled as his speed began to lag. His Ki was nearly depleted, and he could feel his tenuous grasp on it slipping. The effects of Yasaka's blood were fading and with it, he would once again be unable to even sense lifeforce let alone control it. It had been nearly three months since his escape from that dark prison while training every day and he still couldn't put his foot on the starting line of sensing himself.
The connection snapped causing Balor to lose the ability to feel lifeforce once again and his speed immediately dipped. Now running only slightly faster than a grown man could walk, he felt the expected heat at his back so he continued pushing himself, knowing that he wouldn't get mercy anymore. Not after Valerie manage to awaken her sacred gear.
It still galled Balor that he could barely control what he froze with his eyes when he activated them after nearly a month of practice while Valerie seemed to be able to perfectly control her sacred gear. Although she seemed incapable of helping him age faster. It was either that, or she and Yasaka had made a deal behind his back so that he was forced to endure this torment instead of taking a slower and safer route to learning. They did spend a lot of time talking when he wasn't around and any time he asked about it he would get a reply along the lines of a woman with secrets was more attractive.
"You're getting slower. You still have some lifeforce to spare so you better hurry unless you want to get burned again," Yasaka teased from behind Balor as he felt the heat begin to blister his back. At first, she had merely used it as a threat while never actually hitting him with it, then one day the connection to his ki had snapped so suddenly he had stopped moving. That had been a mistake that cost him. His entire back had been charred black and he fainted from the pain. That was also the day Valerie awakened Sephiroth Graal.
It didn't matter how fast or long Balor ran now. He would always end up with burns or even lost limbs now that Yasaka had Valerie's Longinus to rely on. It didn't even matter if she crippled him because Valerie was able to easily regenerate his body whether it was barely damaged, or he was completely dead.
The memory of the first time Balor had lost a leg still caused him to wince. He had tripped near the end of a session and the fire had caught and consumed his leg. After that he laid there screaming until Valerie had healed him to the point there was no longer any pain. It had taken another couple of seconds to regrow it and Yasaka had sent him running again right after. She only let him stop when his life force was only the brink of fading.
Maybe the daily pain was getting to Balor and he was beginning to go crazy, but he felt like he understood Riser Phenex a little. The loss of a body part wasn't such a big deal if it could be regrown quickly and, while the pain didn't feel any less intense, repeated exposure made handling it better. He still wished Yasaka would go easier on him however, every time he asked, she would respond with a pout asking him if he didn't think she was worth the effort. At least for now, he feared that disappointment more than the pain. Just barely.
When Balor's sight began to flicker the fire behind him disappeared along with the heat. Collapsing on the ground he began taking in deep breaths as the smell of grass filled his nose. Thankful he was still completely intact, minus some scales on his back. It was a wonder how all the fire Yasaka used on him never seemed to damage the field they came to train on.
Pulling in one more lungful of air Balor sat up and prepared himself for the next part. Now that his life force was really low Yasaka would channel more into him. Speaking of the devil, she circled around and sat down in front of him. He wasn't sure he could ever get tired of or used to the way she was dressing. In one word, it was skimpy.
With a red pair of tight hugging bloomers, Yasaka wore an indecent white shirt that exposed her navel and lower portion of her breasts while just barely keep itself from ripping. If she had a daughter already, he might have accused her of stealing a gym uniform. Complaining about the modesty would be hypocritical though, since she was wearing something while he was completely naked. To be fair, it was only because he had started losing clothing due to her hellish training.
"You did well, but now comes the hard part again. Hopefully you manage to sense it this time," Yasaka said as she placed her hands upon Balor's bare chest. Closing his eyes without comment, he focused on the feeling flowing through him. A warm tide slowly pushed into him from the connection. Feeling the lifeforces run along imaginary pathways he waited for the critical part. When the flow turned to a trickle, he focused on the heat he could still feel inside himself.
Yasaka's warm and easily distinguishable energy melded with Balor's unseen lifeforce as he felt the heat fade. Every time the energy became fainter and fainter, it felt like he was trying to grasp an eel. When the warmth faded and he was left wanting he nearly gave up, but he felt something. It was unlike the warm lifeforce she fed him, or he used when her blood empowered him. Like a frozen river it whispered just at the edges of his mind disappearing and reappearing seemingly without reason.
When the cold current appeared again Balor pulled at it like he had done hundreds of times before with Yasaka's power and sent it through his arm. A tiny inky black flame appeared in his hand and flickered out with his perception of the river. Despite the failure to keep it going he jumped up on wobbly legs and let out a whoop of delight. Finally, he wouldn't have to run from fire anymore. These weren't tears in his eyes. They were manly streams of joy.
"You nearly poked my eye out." Yasaka said looking up at Balor smiling. Poking the offending appendage, she added, "Congratulations on finally using your own life force for once. You can have a little longer of a break after you are healed by Valerie before you have to run again."
"What? Why? I can already sense it. Wasn't the whole point of the exercise to get me to be able to sense my own life force faster?" Balor said startled by the declaration.
"Yes, but your control is quite lacking. You can barely sense it right? From now on you will run without my blood," Yasaka replied while nodding her head. "Don't worry. I will slow the fire down for the first few attempts." Her words caused Balor's mouth opened and closed multiple time before setting it into a scowl and resigned himself to his fate.
With one final glare at Yasaka, Balor trudged over to the side of the field where Valerie was studying. Ever since he had begun training, she had been learning how to speak Japanese and could now say some simple words now, like tree, fox, mother and baby. The last word brought a wry smile to his mouth as he watched her go through flash cards with a fox attendant. True to the nature of mother and daughter they had been settling into, she now wore a similar red and white gym uniform while they were out in the field. Unlike Yasaka, her uniform covered her body and looked like it could be used for its intended purpose instead of only being useful for some kinky adult fantasy.
"Valerie could you heal me. Yasaka is being unfair and making me run again even though I already manage to sense my ki." Balor complained as he plopped down beside her. They look of concentration she had was lost when she heard his voice just to be replaced by a bright smile. Even the darkest days seemed to brighten when she looked at him like he was the center of the universe. He felt her infectious smile tug at the corner of his mouth when she pulled out one of her grails and began healing him.
"Yasaka-sama will get angry if she hears you calling her something other than mother, besides Balor-sama, she is training you for your own good," said Shizuka the fox attendant much to Balor's embarrassment. Being one of only a handful of yokai that spoke fluent Romanian in the town, it had been a natural choice for her to be tasked of teaching Valerie how to speak Japanese since Yasaka couldn't spend all her time with them. Wearing the customary shrine maiden attire, she was a short woman perhaps just shy of five feet tall. Her hair, ears, and tail were the customary blonde of her race while her face was a soft oval that gave her an androgynous appeal.
"My own good? I swear she is just torturing me for the enjoyment." Balor said as the pain in his back faded.
"She isn't torturing you. Don't be a baby Balor," Valerie said while mussing up Balor's hair. She may have thought the world of him but that didn't stop her from agreeing with Yasaka more often than not.
"That's right Balor-sama. Yasaka-sama lost many people in the last war, especially when her sister in Hiroshima was caught off guard, so she is just trying to make sure you are strong enough to survive. I can't deny she is enjoying this though. She has been trying so hard to have children and now she has two with another on the way so she must be having fun," said the attendant to Balor's shock. Yasaka was trying to train him to survive a nuke?! He could barely block an extremely weak fire with touki. He would have better luck trying to stop it with his eyes before it exploded.
"You have a big mouth Shizuka," Yasaka said in a serious tone as she wrapped her arms around Balor and pulled him into her lap. Now seated in her lap he used her as an impromptu chair while she rested her breasts on his head. Shizuka's eyes widened and then her ears drooped at the statement.
Balor placed his hand Yasaka's arm and said, "Its not her fault. You should have told me more about your family, Mother." The word always seemed to make her giddy, so he used it to distract her. Shizuka looked at him in surprise and gave him a grateful look as Yasaka placed her hand on his.
"I will tell you all about them later, but for now, break time is over." Yasaka said playfully to Balor and then added sharply, "Start running again before she lets out any more of my secrets." He gave a look of pity to Shizuka. He had tried to help a fellow sufferer of Yasaka's tyranny, but it looks like his secret move failed.
"Good luck Balor. Fight!" Valerie said ending with her fist raised as Balor began running again. The cuteness of the gesture was lost on him as he felt heat at his back. The day had just started and already he wanted to go back to bed.