DxD: Multiversal Therapist

The first floor was massive, way bigger than we thought. Although we managed to find the Elf Nucleus quite quickly, there was still a gigantic maze around us to explore filled with the spirits of adventurers which Anna Blair determined were at least all Orialchum-ranked individuals. 

I was not a teacher, but even I knew what the girls' main forte was. So I fought separately. 

For Anna... I just let her eat all the spirits that she fought... she got stronger as she fought and her instincts as a youkai determined her unique way of fighting. She had ice-attribute attacks as a Yuki-onna together with darkness. But her most ferocious traits were her claws and physical strength. Her claws were so sharp that they could even injure my divine body to a small degree.

Which meant she'd be able to easily slice a minor god. None of those spirits was her match although fire-based attacks still annoyed her. 

In Akeno's case, I put her to fight on her own a couple of times and created a limbo domain that allowed her to strike the spirits while inside it. It was a difficult training ground for her because spiritual-based attacks are innate. 

One of them was Senjutsu, and another one, lucky her... was the lightning that she could produce as a Fallen Angel, which she wasn't quite proficient at. It allowed her to attack spirits. So I focused her training on learning how to use that special lightning that could take many odd shapes and had more traits than just electricity and shock. 

By the end of the day, she got a lot more comfortable with it and even asked Anna Blair for some tips since the latter was also a sorceress to some degree... sadly, the methods of magic between the two worlds made them both incompatible to teach one another. They both used mana but in different ways.

And lastly, Rias.

With her, it was the more simple method. Destruction is her only power, she can't use other types of magic... it is an innate power she inherited from her mother's side, the Devil Duke Family of Bael. 

From what I can feel, her power is quite threatening and what's stopping her from developing it is the fear she has of her own power. Akeno told me when she was a kid, Rias used to train her powers and always get injured... sometimes nearly dying. These incidents made it so that she started training less and less, being more cautious, I couldn't blame her. 

To her, her overwhelming destructive power was not an advantage but instead, a detriment. What's the use of a power that's devastating to others, but also to you?

So my training for her was to let her loose and use all the destruction she could muster while I protected her from the backlash. This is not optimal, but I want her to at least get rid of that fear and use her powers a bit more freely... later I'd devise a way in which she can protect herself from her own powers and control them. 

The energy of destruction is quite chaotic, it is canalized through her body and then released, but during the time it is in her body, it can still injure her externally and internally. I had to heal her up a few times... some others even kissed her for reassurance. 

It would be complicated... but she's my friend and now my girlfriend, I'd be with her until the end. 

I calculated more or less when it was night. Anna was already yawning, the girls wanted some rest so we camped in front of the Elf Nucleus where I put the girls to sleep. I carried everything we needed in the moonlight mist, so that was not a problem. 

When I took them to bed, I saw Anna Blair standing in front of the nucleus. 

"Vanna, you should sleep too".

"..."

She didn't answer me, instead kept fondling the nucleus, drawing her hand along. I only stared at her, she seemed to be analysing.

"My lord–"

"Call me Ray".

The elf blushed for some reason but nodded nonetheless, "Then Ray... you said, you can analyse energies around you, right?".

"That's right".

"The energy of this nucleus, what does it tell you?"

"..."

I walked up to her, put my hand on the nucleus and closed my eyes. It was a lot of energy... surrounding this energy was only emptiness, void... like a cold corpse. It is natural, this cave on its own is dead.

However, I also thought that's not natural.

I am also able to see the records of energy, not only the present but also the past. For thousands of years, this shard has been here, hit by dozens of adventurers who at some point came into this cave, craving treasures. 

"Why does that prompt call it 'Elf Nucleus'? Why can't I see it? I have been wondering all day... so I experimented with your back, sorry" She apologised, and I told her to explain herself. 

Anna Blair raised her hand and a few branches of a tree manifested there, she has the innate capacity to control plants. 

"You may not be able to feel it because it is 'dead' but this Elf Nucleus is connected to something. I have sent roots down to see its origin, but my roots can't go far enough"

"For what I can say. The origin of those plants is this nucleus" I said, everything seems to be connected. 

The energy that comes from this nucleus is the same one that keeps these plants alive. However, it is non-related to the prompt high above... it is not related to those pitch-black stalactites. That is a different energy.

"A battle of forces"

Anna Blair said something that made me gasp. 

The adventurers here, from all ages of history... Anna Blair even managed to date them by their attires, some of them at least nine hundred years old before the Empire was even born. They all come here, they are all said to destroy this Nucleus. 

There were many dilemmas. These plants have many jobs... one of them is to fight invaders, another is to mislead invaders... to protect this nucleus. We jumped steps here.

We weren't supposed to find that Elf Nucleus so quickly. 

'Was I led to it?'.

"Ray, could we... not touch the nucleus?" Anna Blair requested, no, she begged me. 

I already had some ominous feelings about this, so I nodded to her. At least until we go deeper inside, I don't want to reach conclusions. 

This has become way deeper than just a training ground, there is a mystery to this related to the elves and perhaps something even deeper. The screen that the girls describe is like the screens I see in Elysir's system. 

So is this another system?

Too many questions to be dillydallying, so I put the girl and allowed her to sleep in my moonlight mist. I told Anna Blair that she and I could continue exploring while the girls slept, there were still plenty of corridors we hadn't gone through. 

'I am also curious, Ray'.

"Ophis?" Of all people, I didn't expect this lazy Dragon Goddess to be interested in something. 

"The energy in that nucleus has a resemblance with Infinity. Whatever deity is it that this belongs to, that deity had authority over infinity. I want to know".

"Then come here and explore with me".

"I don't wanna..."

"Eh?"

"It is still more comfortable to be in your soul. Why would I be out there when I can be here".

"You lazy dragoness".

"I will accompany you soon enough... my mate"

"Uhm? What was that?"

*SNORE...*

*SNORE...*

She didn't talk again after that. I haven't found this dragoness a home yet but for some reason, I think she doesn't care anymore. 

...

Anna Blair aka 'Vanna the Arrow' –I like to call her, and I continued our journey along the massive dungeon. We killed all the spirits that we could but avoided doing any damage to the plants. 

There were very mild air currents in this cave, but there were... most particularly, there were three air currents that entwined. One of them leads to the exit, as for the other two...

"Stairs, there is another level below" Anna said, we found a set of stairs that led further down the dungeon.

As for the other place... as we were chasing after the current, it suddenly disappeared. We reached a dead end.

"That's strange..." I knelt on the ground, there weren't any trails of anything but I could have sworn there was a current of air leading this way, coming from the exit. 

"Let's keep heading down, Ray!"

A bit impatient Anna Blair pulled me to the other stairs and we headed further down into another gigantic area that was a bit different... perhaps too different from the others. 

This area had a lot more pitch-black crystals and stalactites... a lot fewer plants, but a lot more mist. 

"This is... it is weird for the ecosystem to change completely like this, it is not common in dungeons unless".

"There is a living thing here," I said and finally something caught my attention and warning. 

Through the mist, we saw them coming... pitch-black crystal-like beings. The problem is, I don't feel any energy coming from them.

Anna prepared her bow, and without even thinking twice she fired an arrow at the closest crystal humanoid. Her arrow didn't do jack shit, not even a dent. 

"What!–"

The arrow triggered the foe and they lunged at us, I pulled her behind me.

<Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!>

*BOOOMMMMM*

A gigantic fireball engulfed all of them and exploded, shaking the whole cave. It took a while for the dust to settle, but when it did, they were still there. Only a bit burnt. The explosion scattered the myst and allowed me to see... the numerous bones lying on the ground, fallen pieces of armour and so much more.

"So this is where the corpses are".

"Ray, be careful, they're not normal!" Anna started to get agitated, if even that fireball didn't do anything to them, she likely didn't have anything in her arsenal to deal with the situation. 

But I did, after all, that's just common fire. 

<Sun Burst!>