Having finished our meal, we went back to our rooms. Arriving back at Alice and my room, I pulled out dragon's fire.  

Arriving in the familiar training space, I went about my usual training. 8 hours later as my time ran out, I left the training space. The progress that I made even in the short time was amazing. I had already got the basic principles of the skills down. I was at the inspiration stage now.  

Putting all of the usual thoughts out of my mind, I walked over to Alice. Surprising her, I pulled her into a deep kiss. Needless to say, we had lots of "fun" after that. 

Waking up the following morning, I sat up in the bed. Looking around the leftovers of our fun were nowhere to be seen. The sheets were pristine, as if we hadn't just slept in them. The clothes that were spread around the room, were now in two neat piles. Getting up from bed, I dressed myself. With a final glance at Alice's sleeping figure, I left the room.  

Walking down to the kitchen, I made myself a coffee. Though it didn't effect me as much as it was when I was human, I still drank it out of routine. Walking into the living room, I was surprised to find Gareth there. As a side effect to my enhancements, I only needed 6 hours of sleep. This meant it was only 6 in the morning. I thought I would be the only one up.  

Solomon: oh, morning. 

Walking over I sat by Gareth on one of the comfy chairs. 

Gareth: ah, morning Solomon. I'm surprised you're up so early. 

Solomon: my enhancements make me sleep less, so I'm up early. What about you? 

Though he also had enhancements, I thought he would not be too affected by it. Especially considering I he only recently became G rank. 

Gareth: it's the same for me, I only have to sleep for 4 hours now. 

Solomon: WHAT? 

Though I thought it might slightly reduce his needed sleep, I didn't expect it to have such a huge impact. Then again, his enhancement was that of a demon that lived in the shadows. It wasn't surprising he slept less.  

Gareth: it's not too bad, this way I can become stronger faster. 

Though that was true, it would be bad if he stopped sleeping in the future. The mental strain that would come from remaining conscious for ages would be bad for him. But by that point, he would probably be way beyond the scope of normal humans.  

Putting that aside, for now, I moved onto other things. 

Solomon: since we're both up, what would you say to some sparring.  

Not being able to test my strength after improving it, I was enthusiastic to test myself. 

Gareth: haha, let's go for it. 

Judging by the smile on Gareth's face, he also felt the same way. Walking out to the garden. We found a little sparring area. 

 As it was shown on the floor plan, there was a medium sized sparring ground running alongside the house. Taking positions opposite each other, we prepared to battle. 

Solomon: are you ready? I'm not going to hold back. 

Gareth: I should be warning you, let's fight. 

Taking the initiative, Gareth pulled out his gun. Aiming it at my head, he pulled the trigger. 

Pulling out my sword, I blocked the shot with a holy light mantle. As the shield broke I threw my body weight forwards. As my body leant forward I put a small amount of my qi into my left leg. Just as I was about to face plant the ground, I sprung forward. 

Solomon: be careful. 

Giving a warning to Gareth, I arrived only five or so meters from him. The momentum from my qi fuelled leg allowed me to quickly approach. As I prepared to do the same with my other leg, Gareth shot at me again. Unlike the last time, he had used a decent amount of power in his shot. 

It seemed from the last fight, he had learnt that he couldn't match me in close combat. So he decided to rely more on his ranged abilities.  

As the shot reached me, I placed a holy light mantle before it. To my surprise, the mantle broke without giving any resistance. Continuing on, the shot hit me in the leg.  

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Despite the strong resistance of my body, the bullet could still cut through my leg like a knife through butter. 

Solomon: ARGH! 

Stifling a scream, the pain caused my instincts to focus. Now having a small hole in my leg I could not use it to lunge forward. However, my momentum was still carrying me forward. if I continued forward I would fall on my face.  

Under this stress, a crazy idea surfaced in my mind. I bent forwards, accelerating the fall of my body. Just before I hit the ground, I stretched my hand forward. Coming out from my hand was a large, opaque tentacle. This tentacle planted itself on the ground, stopping my fall. 

The momentum from the fall continued on, lifting my legs up behind me, pulling them over my body. Just as I was about to completely roll my body, the tentacle extended out. Though it was destroyed under the stress, it still managed to propel me upwards.  

Now flying through the air, I was on a crash course for Gareth. Seeing my approaching body, he tried to move aside. However, before he could, I sent two small flame serpents to either side of him. As I was in the air I did not have the time to use the arcane orb. 

Now pinned in place, he prepared to block my incoming body. Within a quick mist of black fog, Gareth had turned into his demon form. Changing from his gun to a sword, he slightly bent his knees. Taking this stance he prepared for my falling form. 

Seeing this, I was glad my plan had worked. Having left him with little room, I forced him to transform. Grabbing a hold of my sword, I hoisted it above my head. As I reached striking distance I swung downwards. 

To block this attack, Gareth held his sword horizontally in front of him. 

As the blades met, the full momentum behind my body transferred through the swords into his arms. Though he buckled slightly against the pressure, he still blocked the attack.  

Moving fast, I tried the next part of my plan. Though it was very risky. With a thought, I coated my blade in qi. Then moving it backwards, I tried to have the qi remain in place. This was a small application of the afterimage technique I was learning. Though it could not be considered a skill, It was enough to be a self-made technique. 

Luckily, it worked. Without Gareth's notice, my blade's course was changed. Using this opening I swiped my blade at his side. Still trying to block the afterimage, I easily hit him with the real attack.  

However, it did not do much damage, only leaving a deep gash in his arm.  

Gareth: shit, you've already learnt another skill. 

Solomon: not yet, I've just used a new trick. 

By this point, the damage I had done was already gone. It seems his transformation also increased his regeneration.  

Gareth: don't think you're the only one to have a few new tricks. 

Pointing at me with his sword, the dark mist around his body surrounded his sword. With this new mist upgraded sword, he charged at me.  

Not willing to let him take the initiative again, I also charged forwards. When our swords met, the power of his blows were almost twice as strong. It seemed like he was forcing his sword forwards with his mist, increasing its speed.  

Solomon: that's a neat new trick, but you know you can't win with it. 

Though his blows were much stronger, and he could continuously push me back, he had no way to finish me off. If it stayed like this then he would run out of energy. 

Gareth: of course, prepare yourself. 

Holding his sword with both hands, the energy around him surged into the blade. This was the simple strengthening that any energy could be used for. However, he was pumping all of his remaining energy into this attack. The destructive power was huge. 

Solomon: hahahaha, don't disappoint me. 

Sheathing my sword and drawing my orb, I prepared my own attack. Pumping a twentieth of my qi in, I judged my attack to be about equal to his. Using this amount, I planned to cancel out the attack. 

Gareth: HAAAAAAAAAAAGH 

With a roar, Gareth lifted his sword up. Then with a sharp slash, all of the gathered energy was sent shooting forth. However, unlike my expectations, it was not a sword wave. The mist had shot forth in a spiral, ending with a sharp point. Looking at this attack, I knew that it was stronger than I had thought.  

As I had assumed it was a slash, the power would be spread out. But when it was condensed like this, it doubled in strength. Realising my attack was not enough, I tried to think of a quick solution. But in the split second before it hit my attack, I tried to think of good alternatives. 

When nothing came to mind, I decided that I would use brute force. speaking its name, I used my new racial skill. 

Solomon: fur of the eternal moonlight. 

Just as the silver fur had grown out completely, the mist hit me. The momentum behind it forced me backwards. As I tried to use my claws to grab the mist, I was gradually being pushed backwards. Luckily thanks to the amazing defence of my fur, I had avoided a lot of damage. However, I was still in trouble. If I didn't find a method to remove the attack soon, even the furs excellent defence couldn't hold up. 

Using the best method I could think of, I pooled a fifth of my qi into my gut. Then using this energy I improved the defence of my fur. Though it was not a clever solution, it was the only one I could think of. Sometimes the clear but costly action was the best to take. 

After the power behind the mist disappeared, it went up in wisps. Breathing out a long sigh, I was happy to have ended that crisis. 

Solomon: haaaaagggh, to think you would try and pull something like, oh. 

Halfway through talking, I realised Gareth was passed out on the floor. Having reverted from his demonic form, he probably didn't even see the destruction his attack had wrought.  

Walking over to him I picked him up. Hoisting him over my shoulder, I checked the time. It had just turned 6:30. It was likely that everyone else would sleep for a while yet. Making my way to the mansion's living room, I laid Gareth on the couch.  

After exhausting his energy, It would probably take him a while to wake up. Especially considering he had used his transformation. Like with mine, I figured that it would have an effect on the body. Whenever I transformed back, my bones felt sore. So while I waited, I thought about the spar we just had. Though I had won, there were several major mistakes I had made. I could tell if Gareth and my strength was equal, I would not last a minute against him.  

While ruminating on the fight, I settled down into a comfy chair. Completely losing my sense of time, I dedicated myself to my thoughts.