Chapter 343: Sparring
On the TV screen, the character controlled by Toujou Basara was easily defeated by the character Haruto was controlling.
Having slept with both of his cousins, Haruto felt somewhat guilty. Noticing Toujou Basara's unusual expression, he gently put down the controller and prepared to slip away.
"Haruto, where are you planning to go?"
Toujou Basara's faint voice sounded behind him, and a sturdy, scarred arm rested on his shoulder.
"Uh... I just remembered that I might have left my house unlocked. I should go back and check."
Haruto spouted nonsense that even he didn't believe, but Toujou Basara obviously wasn't going to buy it so easily.
"Keep me company for some sparring."
Toujou Basara looked at Haruto seriously and said, "I'm entrusting Mio and Maria to you, but I still want to become stronger."
The current relationship between Toujou Basara and the Naruse sisters was merely one of blood ties, but their compatible personalities allowed them to get along quite well when other relatives were absent.
He had long known about Mio and Maria's choices, but hadn't expected this day to come so quickly.
As for advising Haruto to treat his sister properly, Basara thought it would be pointless given Haruto's chaotic relationships with women, so he wisely kept silent.
Seeing Basara's serious expression, Haruto also became earnest.
"The affairs of the previous generation in the Underworld are complex—strength alone isn't enough."
Haruto knew that Toujou Jin, who seemed unreliable, should have already reached Satan's castle in Zolgear's territory by now.
The Underworld was ruled by four Satans, but not all were as overwhelmingly powerful as Sirzechs, who concealed his true strength.
With Jin's god-level power, causing some trouble shouldn't be a problem.
Basara took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Strength alone isn't enough, but without strength, nothing can be achieved."
Haruto was momentarily stunned, then laughed.
"Well said." He gestured for Basara to follow. "I've just acquired a new magic and was planning to practice it."
"First, you must restrict your power level to match mine."
"Then I'll say this first—you're not allowed to use that cheating ability."
With the rule-based power of Non-Scalar Execution, if Haruto suppressed his strength, he might suffer if he wasn't careful.
While he was willing to be a sparring partner, he had no desire to be tortured.
Basara hesitated slightly, well aware of Haruto's combat skills.
Whether in close combat, swordsmanship, or magic usage, Haruto completely outclassed him.
At the same power level, Basara would definitely be the one getting beaten.
"I asked you to spar because I want to master Non-Scalar Execution quickly..." Basara said.
This was indeed his intention—the most effective and convenient way to rapidly improve his combat power.
"You can't use that ability many times anyway."
Haruto glanced at him sideways. "That should be your trump card, not something you use at the start of every fight."
After a moment of silence, Basara nodded slightly.
Haruto's words had disturbed his thoughts, making him almost forget that not every battle could be decided with a single move.
Seeing Basara prepared to get beaten, Haruto grinned.
Although he was just beginning to learn Psychokinesis magic, its greatest strength was its effectiveness in first encounters—more than enough to overwhelm Basara.
Of course, since this was training, he still needed to fulfill his duties conscientiously.
Under Haruto's guidance, Basara improved rapidly.
His natural combat talent was good, though it had been neglected for many years.
Two hours later, exhausted Basara was pinned to the grass by an invisible psychokinetic hand, unable to struggle free.
Seeing this, Haruto secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
While Psychokinesis magic was useful, it was only suitable for crushing weaker opponents and first encounters. Once its weaknesses were discovered, it became disadvantaged against opponents of equal level.
He had controlled his spiritual power at SS-class peak—using only Psychokinesis magic next time probably wouldn't be enough to defeat Basara.
Controlling power was one thing, but consumption was another.
Compared to Basara's exhaustion, Haruto had only exercised lightly.
"Basara, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, I just need to lie down for a while."
"Alright, I'll head back first and continue tomorrow."
"Okay."
Despite being beaten for two hours, Toujou Basara showed no discouragement—his progress was visibly evident.
After the practical combat, Haruto gained a deeper understanding of Psychokinesis Magic, and a vague idea began to surface in his mind.
But whether it would work or not required further experimentation.
Three days later.
In the Toujou family's yard, Toujou Basara was once again sent flying by Haruto's punch.
His shoes left two trails on the grass as he steadied himself. Suddenly, Brynhildr in his right hand emitted a faint glow, followed by pale green flames igniting in his right eye.
"Broken through already? Quite fast."
Haruto expressed surprise before adjusting his power to the SSS-level.
As a sparring partner, it was essential to maintain the same realm at all times.
Before Toujou Basara could even revel in his breakthrough, he saw Haruto launching another new attack.
"..."
After a moment of speechlessness, he still responded actively.
The fundamentals of combat remained the same, but certain unique techniques and magic required corresponding levels to execute.
It was like handing a forbidden spell to a magic apprentice—even if they could comprehend it, they wouldn't have enough mana to use it.
With Toujou Basara's breakthrough, Haruto now had more ways to "teach" him.
At this moment, Toujou Basara felt as though he had returned to three days ago. Just when he had finally managed to hold his own in exchanges, breaking through had somehow landed him back in a position where he could only take a beating.
He felt bitter inside, but he kept it to himself.
There was no helping it—after all, Haruto's guidance was undeniably effective.
In just three days, he had broken through, and his combat skills now far surpassed what they were three days prior.
Haruto didn't deliberately make things difficult for him. Seeing that it was about time, he proactively said, "Let's pause for a few days. Once you've fully stabilized your realm, we'll continue."
"Mm."
Toujou Basara withdrew Brynhildr and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.
"I heard Yuki and Kurumi plan to leave the village. Is it because of you?"
"Mm."
Haruto, lost in thought about telekinetic magic, casually replied, "I plan to reincarnate them as demons and make them my Familiars."
Demons naturally have longer lifespans than humans, which extend further as their power grows.
The Naruse Sisters had good talent and were exactly Haruto's type, so it was only right to offer them the position of Familiars.
Even if he didn't reincarnate them as demons, they could no longer stay in the Hero Clan.
Leaving the village was a decision the sisters made themselves.
Yuki, the beautiful girl with yandere potential, had already completely devoted herself to Haruto as her one and only.
Leaving the village was nothing—she would do anything for Haruto.
Kurumi was better off, simply following her older sister.
She liked Haruto, and the dual cultivation was indeed wonderful.
But her main reason was to continue staying with Yuki.
"Yuki and Kurumi left yesterday."
Haruto gazed at the blue sky. "By my estimate, they should have reached the village by now."
After dual cultivation, the sisters spent a day stabilizing their realms before proposing to return to the village.
With Zolgear confirmed dead, Kurumi's surveillance mission had ended.
Moreover, they had obtained firsthand data on dual cultivation, accomplishing two tasks in one trip.
As for the mission to surveil Haruto for a year…
It depended on whether the elders were willing to send another beautiful and talented female hero to take on the task. In any case, Yuki had decided to quit.
As for sending a male hero to surveil him, the Gremory family would never agree.
Haruto was somewhat worried about the sisters and had considered accompanying them.
But going to the Hero Clan's headquarters, even if it was just a branch, carried some risks.
He was confident, but not arrogant.
Upon careful reflection, the heroes' "mountain village" wasn't entirely righteous, but it was generally orderly.
In the The Testament of Sister New Devil timeline, Yuki eventually left the village and surrendered the Sacred Gear "Sakuya." Though the process had its twists and turns, it turned out alright in the end.
What Haruto truly worried about was the Cuckold Protagonist Template. Even though he had completely suppressed it, the psychological scars weren't so easily erased.
Just hearing "mountain village" gave him a sense of impending trouble, especially when he considered that this world had elements of adult-themed stories mixed in…