Becoming a Shadow in the New World

Chapter Eighty-Five Training

Watching his sister and Akeno Himejima train together, and then thinking about the order to stay put and train, Sid had to admit that this feeling of slacking off was kind of enjoyable.

"Da, da da!"

Noticing the footsteps beside him, Sid turned to look at the person who came, and he guessed for a second that it was Rias.

"Hey, Sid!"

Guessed it.

"Hi, Rias-senpai."

After exchanging greetings, Rias smiled and walked over to Sid and sat down next to him.

"Do you dislike us a little?"

"?"

Stunned by Rias's sudden words, Cid chose to remain silent, unsure of what to say.

"I'm really sorry, Sid, but there's nothing we can do about it. The competition starts tomorrow, and for the time being, we can only work with your sister to improve our teamwork and avoid problems during the competition. We'll have to make do with you for the next couple of days and let you join us after the competition is over."

No, I'm not aggrieved at all. There's only one outcome anyway: we'll go our separate ways.

Cao Cao will definitely cause trouble then, and I'll find an opportunity to die once and be resurrected, then we can go our separate ways. So there's no point in saying all this now.

But after seeing Rias's actions, Sid finally understood why Rias had suddenly run to his side. She was worried that he would feel neglected and develop bad feelings towards them.

"How could that be, Rias-senpai? On the contrary, I am very grateful to you."

“Really?

Sid, you don't need to lie. I'm not a master who can't accept complaints from subordinates. I hope you can tell me your true thoughts.

"No, Rias-senpai, this is my true thought. I am quite self-aware. Under normal circumstances, I would never have been chosen by you to become a familiar. Being chosen by you is only thanks to my sister. How could I not be grateful in this situation?"

Smiling and shaking his head, Sid was trying to brush Rias off the hook; he was getting annoyed with the conversation.

“Sid, you don’t need to talk about yourself like that. It’s true that I took you in as a member of my family because of your sister, but you don’t need to belittle yourself. Believe in yourself, Sid, you are excellent.”

?

Seeing Rias suddenly become agitated, Sid didn't know why, but he still chose to comply.

"Haha, I was just being melancholic on NetEase Cloud Music. Sorry, I won't do it again."

"But this is the first time anyone other than my sister has said that to me. I'm already used to it, thank you, Rias-senpai."

"Habit!"

For some reason, Rias ignored Cid's joke, as if she had heard something she couldn't accept, and her expression shifted between light and dark.

"Um, Rias...senpai?"

"Oh, what's wrong? Sid, is something the matter?"

"No, it's nothing, Rias-senpai. I just noticed you didn't look well, so I called out to you."

"Nothing, I was just thinking about some things."

Ahem, Sid, don't worry. Although there were some unexpected changes in this competition, and it caused quite a stir, you don't need to fight because you haven't fully integrated the Demon Chess Piece.

Moreover, because this competition has become so big, not only my brother, but also the other four great demons will be present, including Prince Beelzebub, the developer of the demon chess pieces.

"I will then plead with Prince Beelzebub to find a way to help you fully integrate."

"Oh, thank you so much, senior. I'll head over to the other side for training now. Good luck!"

After speaking, Sid quickly left the scene and ran to another training area to train, leaving Rias alone in the same spot.

Rias wasn't in the mood to pay attention to Cid at the moment. After glancing at the group training and practicing together in the arena, Rias also ran down to train with them.

Sid wasn't wrong; Rias had come for the same reason he suspected: she was afraid he would develop some negative emotions.

After all, it's supposed to be everyone's training, but he's being made to train alone. It's really hard not to think of this as passive-aggressive behavior.

But there's really no way around it. When an extra person suddenly appears in a team, it takes time and training to develop chemistry. Otherwise, let alone a +1 in combat power, a lack of coordination could even result in a -1 in combat power.

Adding just one more person takes a lot of time, let alone adding two people.

The problem is that the time frame is too short. It's only been three days since they joined, and the competition starts tomorrow. Under these circumstances, we can only let Sid's sister Claire join first to develop team chemistry, and then let Sid join the training to develop team chemistry after the competition.

From a rational perspective, Rias's actions were not problematic.

Because Sid hasn't fused with the demon pieces, he won't need to fight.

Spend three days training the five of them, and then the five of them fight together.

Spend three days training six people, then five of them fight together.

Both in terms of difficulty and reward, the former surpasses the latter.

So, do we even need to choose which option to select?

Sid himself was well aware of this, after all, this was probably the reason why he was able to get leave so easily yesterday.

To put it bluntly, he's probably the weakest player in the entire competition, with a combat strength of only 5 (B-). It's really a challenge for him to keep up with their teamwork.

Claire is very strong, which is why she was able to coordinate with Rias and her group for three days, while Cid...

What makes him stand out?

No!

On the surface, Sid has nothing outstanding about him. In terms of speed, he's probably only on par with a kitten; in terms of strength, he's at the bottom; and his magic is even worse.

It can be said that, among the swordsman class, comparing Rias's familiars alone, Kiba Yuuto and Claire are superior to Sid in every way.

"So, I was right, I wasn't wrong, this competition is an opportunity, and I can't miss it."

"Go for it, Rias! Use this match as your chance to break free from the labels people have of you."

As Rias said this, she walked towards Kiba Yuuto and the others, her eyes hardening as if she were encouraging herself.

Chapter 86 Backup Plan

It's over, Barbie Q.

"Whoo~"

This looks like things are really going to go wrong.

"Snapped!"

Cao Cao, why haven't you arrived yet? I'm counting on you to help me create chaos.

"Boom boom boom~"

The sudden, violent tremor from the ground interrupted Sid's reverie. He quickly adjusted his center of gravity to steady himself and looked at the wooden stake he had smashed in front of him.

This... he destroyed it?

should be.

"Dear residents of Itogami Island..."

The broadcast from outside informed Sid that the tremor was not limited to this training ground, but affected the entire Itogami Island.

After mentally estimating, he figured that the force with which he struck the wooden stake was roughly equivalent to the impact of a small meteorite.

Hmm... He was quite lucky; he didn't get a medium-sized meteorite randomly. Otherwise, he would have had to put on his Shadow Vest and sink to the bottom of the sea to prop up the island.

As for why the training ground didn't collapse, it can only be said that all the force penetrated through it and attacked the foundation.

After looking around and confirming that this was a legitimate training ground without any surveillance, Sid reached out his hand onto the abandoned wooden stake, and tiny bursts of magic flowed through his body and sprinkled onto the stake.

Done. He used magic to enhance his body and accidentally broke the wooden stake. This excuse was excellent and flawless.

This was a rare mistake for Sid, and he should have been upset about it, but thanks to this mistake, he was able to get rid of his anxiety.

There was no way he wasn't panicking. He had just learned from Rias that someone would be treating him on the day of the competition; he was faking his illness.

The creator of the original demon pieces, Beelzebub, one of the four great demons, a formidable rival of Sazex, and one of the world's top fifteen strongest beings—his reputation speaks volumes about his power.

While it's certain that I can't beat him in a fight, it's highly unlikely that I can fool him like I did with Rias.

Rias originally said it might take more than ten days to fuse, but that's no longer the case. At the latest, it will be delayed until tomorrow night.

In other words, he only has one chance, and this is his only chance to reasonably remove the demon piece.

The only problem is that this opportunity can only be created by Cao Cao himself.

In this crisis situation, would you really ask him to trust Cao Cao?

No, he has to think of a way; he can't put all his eggs in one basket.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Cao Cao; he understood Cao Cao's problematic nature quite well. The main concern was that Cao Cao might actually back down.

After all, the Underworld government went mad and launched a wave of mockery, attracting most of the world's top fifteen to the invitation. With such a lineup, Cao Cao was understandably intimidated.

It's normal for Cao Cao to back down and want to protect himself. If the normal price he paid wasn't his status as an extra, then he would also face problems. Unfortunately, there are no "ifs," so this is quite abnormal.

He had to be prepared to execute Plan B and Plan C if problems arose, because he couldn't trust Cao Cao.

Or... he could go to the underworld right now, find Beelzebub, beat him half to death, and prevent him from attending tomorrow night's match?