The Prince of Demons

Zagzin glared at me, annoyed that I managed to weave in another attack once he began trying to use the air to his advantage. <Air Step> had been fairly useful in the past, but I might have been vastly underestimating just how useful it could be. I jumped back into the air before rushing towards Zagzin with <Air Step>. I might want to try and use the air to my advantage more; maybe I limited my thinking too much by naturally being unable to fly without <Magic>. After a few bounds into the air, I went on the offense now. No need for always being passive just because I want to avoid head on fighting. There was probably some fancy word to describe this, but I had no idea was. I began tossing several spears made of <Light Magic> at Zagzin, riding along one of them to sneak in a punch before kicking off and weaving outside the reach of Zagzin. The style seemed to work so far, but I needed to practice it against someone more competent than Zagzin. I also need to be able to do this at a much higher speed using the <Technique> that Miril showed me. My transitions and pivots were not clean either which meant that a more competent opponent would easily connect with me during them.

I wanted to give Zagzin credit, he was hanging in there despite the gap in our abilities. Now it is time to practice the methodology, so I need to end this spar. Zagzin renewed his assault, trying to connect with me better than before. I launched myself into the air so that he could make no distance on me, shooting in and out of his range with my light spears. Hit and run works much better with the speed than what I was trying before. I guess focusing on weaving in and out with my strikes was not the largest variation from my previous style, but it definitely seemed suited to high-speed fighting. I flipped over Zagzin as he rushed me, stabbing him several times with my tails as I went over him. I kicked off the air when I was above him and got a solid grip on Zagzin's wings to try to redirect him back into the ground. Emphasis on tried to as without using my <Mana> to power it up, Zagzin was not diverted from his flight path. Hmmmm. This wasn't working. I resumed attacking with my tails as I made sure Zagzin didn't break free from my grip. When he flinched into the one strike, it caused him to turn a bit in his flight path. Oh, that is a solution.

Applying that new found knowledge, I made a sharp point to stab hard into Zagzin, pre-rotating where I suspected Zagzin would flinch; with him providing the initial movement I was able to rotate Zagzin around to toss him into the ground with a satisfying thud. I landed on the ground as I calmly walked towards him to see if Zagzin wanted to keep fighting. Just because my usefulness from this spar is about over doesn't mean he won't benefit from it. He got to his feet with an immensely frustrated expression on his face as he turned to face me once again. I will give him credit, Zagzin is not giving up. After he was back on his feet, he began flapping his wings to try something yet again in the air. I aggressively pursued Zagzin because I did not want to give him a moment to rest or compose himself more than I already had as he stood back up. For once in Zagzin's life he properly used a <Spell> to defend himself as he forced me to dodge; he launched several roots at me, trying to ensnare me to stop my movement. The gap between us closed as I descended on him with a bit of <Light Magic>, slipping around his valiant attempts to use <Magic> to keep me away. I shot in with <Prism Fold> to appear on the other side of him where he wasn't expecting me while slamming my back paws into his face, kicking off him to get out of his reach.

I pivoted in the air, summoning another <Light Blade> to throw at Zagzin now that I was just out of the reach of his tail before kicking off with <Air Step>, pivoting into launching several tails at him to keep my assault going. I adjusted in the air beneath him as I pivoted into a claw slash. Once I slashed him, I did a fast rotation into an uppercut, burying my paw into his jaw. Zagzin's head shot up despite the fact I did not put anywhere near as much <Mana> into the attack as I normally would. I need to work on my flexibility and joints. Even not at my full speed I could feel that these were not the cleanest or best motions, putting some strain on my joints as I rapidly shifted my direction. That's the issue I am having when using the hyper speed as well. I needed to clean up my fighting and train to be able to do the motions easier. I guess more stretching exercises as well? Would that help?

Zagzin shook his head, dazed from the uppercut as he tried standing up again. Huh, that did more damage than I thought. From his face I could tell even he was confused by how much damage that hit did which was something I noted for later. I know Nil always said blows to the head can lead to immense damage that's not immediately apparent. Maybe the Reincarnator nerd had more useful information that I should ask about. The question there is going to be how to get it out of him without boring myself to death. For now, I had my path forward on what I should work towards if I wanted to claim the title of strongest. Just wait Ufr, I am going to crush you into the dirt. Ikol was standing nearby with our lunch already caught. Good musclehead.

"Good spar, Zagzin." I complimented him as I walked over to Ikol.

"I have caught lunch, Chef!" Ikol told me proudly. It was some kind of goat looking thing. It probably is fine to consume.

"Thank you, Ikol." I replied as I sat down to begin eating.

I saw Onilin and Vndrglz talking with Zagzin in hushed tones sounding quite annoyed about how the spar just went. I am guessing the three of them are trying to close the gap between them and Ikol and me. Ikol happily ate the goat thing he got for us to eat; whatever this thing was turned out to be surprisingly tasty. Not as good as fish but this is much better than vole. I could definitely see us catching more of this in the future; well, Ikol catching more of this for me as I was enjoying this quite a bit. Ikol was looking at me for approval to see if I was enjoying his catch still, so I gave him a gentle head pat. I could hear Onilin snicker a bit, but she stopped herself when I glared at her for the outburst. What is so funny to her? Me praising Ikol for being useful is amusing to her? Me being nice to Ikol was somehow something Onilin found funny almost every time. I shrugged it off as I returned my focus to enjoying the meal in front of me. Probably just laughing because she doesn't grasp how useful he is compared to them.

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As we ate, my mind wandered on the issue at hand. What did I need to change moving forward? More stretching? Maybe vary the exercises a bit to try and strengthen around my joints more? Improving my <Mana Reinforcement> would be necessary as well to due to rotations from when I dashed in and out. When I redirected Zagzin's force gave me an idea of how to deal with Ufr's strength next time. Do not try to meet it directly but use the force to put him in a worse position if I can't redirect back at him. I just needed to practice and refine that before our rematch so I could grind him to dust; under no circumstances was I going to allow him to win. The title of strongest for this <Journey> was rightfully going to be mine, as it should be. I smiled at that thought, getting to rub it in Miril's face. That is going to be so satisfying when I get to do that after this <Journey>. She is going to be so irritated by that. There would be no one greater than me in this <Journey>.

"Why are you cher cher, Chef?" Ikol inquired, not grasping my great mood.

"I was able to figure out the base for what I need to practice moving forward, and about after this <Journey>." I answered while fantasizing the brief moment I got to ruin Miril's mood and her attacking me. Ikol shifted a little, trying to think of his next question.

"What do you think is after?" Ikol asked sheepishly. Why was his tone off?

"Getting to rub crushing Ufr in your bir- I mean mother's face." I replied. Oh that was going to be so fun; I could almost sense her irritation now as I boasted Ufr's defeat at my paws.

"What about after that?" Ikol pressed. What? Ikol was thinking that far ahead? That was unusual for him.

"I'm not sure, I imagine I am going to stay on Phestia a bit longer. Eventually I will return to Tenebrae." I informed him which made him deflate a bit. What was with him?

"So you'll leave?" Ikol whimpered. Did this idiot assume I was leaving my premier minion behind?

"I imagine you'd come with me, why would you stay on Phestia?" I challenged, not grasping his point. Ikol lit up when I said that. I am not going to be able to find an alternate musclehead to do my bidding. That would be way too much work.

"Chef is right!" Ikol chimed happily.

I heard a noise to my side, seeing Onilin looking like she was fighting for her life to keep a straight face. What was with her? Vndrglz and Zagzin had similar expressions as they absolutely refused to make eye contact with me at the moment or look in Ikol and I's general direction. They keep doing this and it is utterly starting to get under my fur. I had no idea what was going on in these idiots' heads, but something gave me the distinct feeling that I should be irritated at them each time this happened. With that in mind I made my glare more intense as the three of them seemed to be losing it even more. Seriously, what is with these morons? They should be getting stronger not laughing at nothing. Maybe I needed to discipline my <Pack> more than I currently did given the stupid chuckling they all seemed to enjoy doing. This nonsense of theirs might require percussive maintenance if the issue persisted. Why do they all laugh when I enjoy a meal with Ikol? Without fail at some point the three of them would chuckle in our general direction. I might need to get to the bottom of this.

"What is so funny?" I snarled at them.

"Nothing." Onilin lied as her face twitched wildly.

"Vndrglz?" I tried, seeing if his answer was different.

"You couldn't see the ground if it wasn't beneath your feet." Vndrglz chuckled. What the forl did that mean?

"Oh really?" I growled at him.

"Or maybe you can." Vndrglz acquiesced while shrinking away.

"This behavior is unbecoming and needs to stop." I warned the three of them.

"Yes Chef." They sighed in unison as they didn't push back.

"It is utterly ridiculous you all laugh over enjoying a meal." I added on. It was baffling they found that amusing each and every time.

"That would be." Onilin agreed. Would be? What else could they possibly be chuckling at? Ikol?

"Clarify." I snapped at her while giving her my most menacing glare.

"You seem to enjoy relishing in upsetting King Miril." Onilin answered after a moment. Why did that take her so long to phrase?

"What is amusing about wanting to crush Ufr and rub it in his mother's face?" I asked as I did not get why that would be so amusing to them.

"You seem to want to make sure to annoy her on as many fronts as possible, which is such a you move." Onilin informed me. I felt I was missing something, but asking for further clarification likely would only add to their amusement.

"I see." I quipped as Onilin's face all but screamed no you don't at me.

"Good thing Ikol is so loyal; it helps your mission." Onilin stated with a bit of a nod. I glared at her as I debated just how loaded that statement truly was. If I attack I admit it is starting to get to me.

"You all could learn from his loyalty. Regardless, we need to keep moving." I ordered all of them. The doubt in their faces at that statement was aggravating.

We all were standing as we continued navigating the Kniclad Mountains. I used <Waypoint Compass> to verify we were roughly on the right path through the mountains. It was hard to perfectly follow a straight line due to the sheer cliffs and winding nature of the paths, but we were generally able to progress towards Elijah. I just want to reach our first King already. I was honestly curious what the challenges or small trials the Kings gave entailed as just getting to the first one had taken weeks of travel at this point. Ikol was next to me as we marched, happily humming along. I still don't get what Onilin and the others were trying to tease me on. What was Vndrglz talking about? Of course I could see the ground beneath my feet. It was obvious. Wait. Obvious. What obvious thing could I be missing? The three of them had some theory about something that was right in front of my face I couldn't see. They are all delusional. It was the only answer that made sense as I was not that dense or oblivious. The three of them wanting a flaw where there isn't one. I nearly took a break from our march to start some percussive maintenance, but I wanted to reach Elijah more. If they joke about it again however, paws will be flying. I smiled as I figured out what they were laughing about: jealousy. I would never miss something obvious.