The group walked deeper and deeper into the forest, looking for familiars that suited both Issei and Asia.
It didn't take them much time to come across another peculiar creature.
"Look above youngsters! A hellish Jaguar. (Yes yes very original I know.)" Zatouji raised his hand and stopped the group.
Then he pointed towards a tree, the creature was lying on one of the brances as it looked over to evaluate them.
It was really big, smaller than your average tiger or lion, but much bigger than a regular Jaguar, but the most interesting part of it was the fur, it was red with black spots instead of yellow with black spots.
After evaluating the entire group, It's gaze settled on Issei, who took a a step back.
The jaguar jumped down and approached them, or more accurately to say it was approaching Issei without taking its eyes of, or even blinking.
"W-Why is it coming here?! Are you sure it's not dangerous?" Issei asked, trying not to raise his voice.
"Don't worry, it's evaluating you." Zatouji calmed him down as he stepped aside giving the Jaguar space to approach.
"Don't be nervous, It won't do anything." Zatouji further clarified to Issei who was sweating buckets.
Asia gulped also getting nervous, the others where calm because they knew to trust the word of someone who the whole devil race acknowledges as a master of familiars.
But they were still on guard, if something went wrong they'd quickly rescue Issei.
The beast stood in front of Issei and started circling around him, it made Issei extremely nervous, a beast of this size could kill him pretty easily he was no Jinrang who probably could just punch it away, still though, for some reason he didn't want to back down.
The Jaguar finished its inspection, and started rubbing its head against Issei's leg.
"Congratulations kid! It chose you." Zatouji congratulated him.
"R-Really? Don't I have to prove myself like Jinrang did?" Issei asked with surprise.
"Haha! No No, not every familiar needs their masters to prove themselves, sometimes the beasts themselves choose, that is the main reason people don't go after the gorillas, because it's too troublesome." Zatouji explained
"Enough talk, accept the contract already." Zatouji continued.
"How do I do that?" Issei questioned.
"Oh right, just say "I accept" it has already offered a contract to you."
Issei did just that, and a connection between the two was formed.
The Jaguar rubbed its head against his hand once more, before disappearing in the forest.
As soon as the Jaguar left, a small blue creature flew down and sat on Asia's shoulder.
"E-Eh?!" She let out a surprised yelp.
"How rare, a sprite dragon." Zatouji spoke.
"S-Sprite dragon?" She repeated the name.
"Indeed, It's still a baby it's best to make a contract right now, otherwise they'll grow up to be uncontrollable." Zatouji recommended.
Asia nodded and made a contract with it, she named it Rassei.
All in all, everyone who didn't have a familiar got one.
They wrapped it all up, thanked The familiar master and teleported back to the club.
Jinrang immediately plopped down on the sofa, and the others gathered around.
"I assume you still want that explanation?"
Jinrang asked.
"Yes, I've never heard or seen anything like that before so I'm quite curious, as is everyone." Rias answered for the whole group.
"Alright then… I call that Mastery."
"Mastery?" Koneko questioned.
"Yes, it's something like an… awakening of sorts, and the type of Mastery you achieve is based on your talents, or strong points."
"How curious… I don't think I've heard of anything like that." Rias spoke as she thought long and hard, nothing similar came to her mind.
"Of course not, it's not something that's documented, it's taught by word of mouth."
"I see…"
"Moving on, to achieve mastery you have to meet certain conditions first."
"What kind of conditions?" Kiba was the one who asked this time.
Jinrang leaned in as he got serious, the group tensed at the sudden seriousness.
"To achieve mastery, you needs to push the body to its limits for a short period of time, to the point of despair, you become completely miserable with yourself. After that, the you must find and challenge someone who is on another level, so that you feel completely powerless against them, in a sensation similar to "facing an insurmountable wall.'"
He gave his friends some time to digest his words.
"Even you?" Issei cut in, and answered the question lingering on everyone's mind.
"Even me." Jinrang admitted as he recalled some memories, the first time he encountered the insurmountable wall.
He shook his head to get rid of the memory.
Since he didn't want to talk about it, the group didn't pressure him.
"After reaching that stage, you will be in a process of overcoming the wall, you'll experience tremendous growth, frankly that kind of growth is terrifying. And only after that, you will achieve mastery, what I showed back then was the mastery of [Strength]."
"Wait there's more than one?" Akeno questioned.
He turned to her and nodded, "Indeed, there are 4 known masteries, [Strength] used by fighters such as myself, with this you can break through anyone's defense and put pressure on them. [Speed], with this you can cover extreme distances within seconds, dodge blows easily, and attack very quickly. [Durability], it is used by extremely durable fighters, you'll be able to harden your muscles and endure countless attacks. [Technique] used by most skilled and the smartest fighters, with this you can deflect attacks and you can put together tactics to pave way for victory."
"it's astonishing." Rias spoke, "Something like this exists, and nobody had ever heard of such a thing."
"It's extremely rare, I myself haven't met a person who uses any masteries." Jinrang slipped.
"But you somehow know of them." Kiba voiced his thoughts.
'Fuck.' Jinrang thought, as he sighed.
Truth be told, when he was transported into this new world and his soul was squished into the original Jinrang's body, he inherited both the memories and feelings toward the comrades in the past life of his predecessor, however his personality remained dominant.
To this day, he feels… weird about it, to have memories of people he doesn't know, but also knows, to have memories of those struggles, but to not have experienced it at the same time.
To be fortunate enough to have the memory of that legendary man.
To know how to fight, but also not know at the same time.
But still, it was thanks to these memories that he survived, it was all thanks to the original Jinrang.
"…I don't wanna talk about that, please understand." Jinrang spoke quietly, but Kiba understood and backed off from the topic.
Akeno placed a hand on his shoulder to somehow offer him some comfort.
"It's a sore subject, isn't it? Whenever you feel ready… we'll be here to listen." Akeno said to him.
"…Thanks." He said as he shifted in his seat uncomfortably.
"…That mastery thing, can we learn it too?" Issei asked.
Jinrang looked up and observed all of them.
"Probably, I think Kiba has potential for speed, and technique, Koneko could push for Strength and endurance, I'm not sure about you, Asia, Rias or Akeno."
Issei's shoulders slumped.
Jinrang was strong, very strong. Though he felt uncomfortable to admit it out loud, he admired him.
"Don't be like that, you are definitely talented enough to get one, I'm just not sure which one you'll achieve."
Issei's mood brightened significantly, his self-confidence was at an all time low because he was constantly near people like Kiba, Rias, Akeno, Koneko and Jinrang.
And to be called talented by the boy… No, by the man he admires and respects, it meant the world.
"Asia, I'm not sure about you because you don't actively engage in combat, as for Rias and Akeno, it's because they fight with magic, not with their fists or other weapons so I'm not sure if Mastery can apply to that." He explained his reasoning, and they nodded.
"Thank you for sharing that with us, I imagine you're still tired after today, and even more so now. I apologize for keeping you here for so long, but thank you for indulging us." Rias bowed to him.
"We're friends, don't worry too much about such things." He waved it off.
"I can teleport you home if you want." Akeno offered.
"Please do." He agreed a bit too fast.
The two got up and teleported swiftly.
"…I'm seeing something here." Koneko said her voice dripping with suspicion.
"Me too." Rias agreed while smiling.
"Me three." Kiba added.
"Me four." Issei finished.