We left the clearing immediately.

After our preparations and Kehl's explanation of what exactly I was meant to do in this training plan of his, the demon had decided that there was no time to waste and set off in a random direction, beckoning me to follow.

I was... hesitant, with simply wandering out into the open where demons could attack us from anywhere, but I supposed that the entire idea of this trip was to fight and level up, so I trailed after him.

Although I was still pretty scared of the apparent torture this demon was about to put me through in the guise of 'training,' I had a feeling that the results were going to be worth it. After all, wasn't it a common trope for the main character to be put through harsh training by a harsher mentor and reemerge from it as a badass?

Yeah, that's an event that happens all the time in stories!

So I smiled, nodded, and followed after Kehl, blissfully using that thought to convince myself this was actually a good idea.

However, as it turned out, this was not actually a good idea.

Everything went exactly as I had previously expected. And by that, I mean everything immediately went to shit.

Honestly, the whole thing went wonderfully according to Kehl's plan, which was basically "throw Lake into a situation where his death is almost guaranteed and see if the poor sap survives or not."

If we look very literally at that plan, then the mission had definitely been accomplished. Kehl was perfectly fine with the current situation, after all.

My eyes quickly darted towards where that little asshole of a demon was flying, just above my location, looking down at me and the nearby hostiles in silence.

There were three demons across from me, pacing around the small clearing we were in.

With bursts of fire flashing from their backs, paws, and mouths, the demons stared at me, their red eyes glowing with a surprising amount of malice- although, as a dog person myself, their appearances didn't dissuade me.

They were damn cute.

Short black fur, matted and dirty but still shining, eyes that were filled with a charm and intelligence hiding behind the large amounts of bloodlust, and a kind of dark beauty behind it all.

The demons looked like Rottweilers on steroids, each one a bit more than half my height and covered in red flame. They seemed like the average 'Hell Hounds' one could usually find in fantasy stories.

But even though each one looked like a solid two hundred pounds of muscle, the demons snarling at me were really freaking cute!

Canidos: Level 6

The iconic demon-dogs of Hell, these nasty canines have some of the worst attitudes you'll ever see, and combined with sharp claws, strong jaws, and fire encasing their whole bodies, they can make anybody an instant cynophobiac! Another thing to watch out for is their impeccable teamwork, since their intelligence is very high for wild demons.

Canidos: Level 6

Canidos: Level 5

...Though, I had to say, the way they were snarling at me was not very cute.

...And, I was about to kill them.

...

I looked up towards Kehl again, who was circling above the area like some sort of vulture.

"Hey, dude! Do I really have to fight these things?! They're really-"

"Yes. You have to fight them. Stop stalling."

...

Damn it.

I didn't want to kill a bunch of dogs, though! I'd get depressed! I wouldn't be able to sleep at night!

I would definitely go to Hell for something like that!

...Wait...

Before I could take that line of thought too far, the dogs attacked.

There were three of them, and each had managed to spread out evenly around the clearing, facing me. When the demons jumped towards me in that one moment, they all attacked from a different direction.

It was a mistake on my part.

They were obviously pack-hunters and had been moving into position since the fight had begun. I had just given them all the time they needed to solidify their first attack.

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I distantly heard Kehl scoff at me from far above the fight and took a small moment to curse him in my head before the demons reached me.

Time Dilation

Sprint

Luckily, it seemed like each demon was relatively slow on their own and had to rely on swarming me to land hits. With my activated skills increasing both reaction time and speed, I was able to avoid most of the damage.

However, it still wasn't enough to perfectly dodge everything.

I managed to dive out of the way, rolling across the dusty ground, and two of the Canidoses slammed into the rocks, but a single pair of claws still managed to rake down my arm.

Now, these dogs didn't have poison like the spider-demons did, but they had a different effect that might have actually been worse.

These guys were perpetually on fire.

So I just got scratched by a 1000 degree claw.

However, there was something strange about the moment. Even though the Canidos that had just attacked me was covered in fire, it didn't actually... hurt.

In fact, it felt like the fire that was coating those claws seemed to almost seep into my skin and warm up my body. It felt like that flame was empowering me, somehow.

My eyes widened.

I had a skill called Fire Absorption.

Remembering the description, it had said something like I was immune to all fire attacks under level 15 or 30, and by burning SP, I could raise the immunity level.

A great skill, all things considered, especially since I was currently in, well, Hell.

However, just because I was resistant to fire, I couldn't let my guard down against these dogs.

I backed away from the demons, quickly getting to my feet and shaking my head, eyeing them carefully. Although the fire damage had been completely nullified, it still really hurt to be scratched by a dog like that!

After getting to a safer position, I watched as the three of them retreated and started moving into an offensive formation, circling around the outskirts of the clearing.

Their strategy was actually pretty simple when I thought about it more closely.

They would surround and corral me, each constantly moving until they were in an optimal position, and all attack at once.

This way, the demons would limit my ability to counterattack and dodge, while slowly whittling my health down again and again.

How could I get through this? It was probably the first time I was fighting enemies that actually had battle instincts and strategy, not just rushing at me blindly and falling into my traps.

I watched them closely, gritting my teeth as my eyes darted between each of the three.

Two of them were Level 6, one was Level 5. I was also Level 5. Even though they outnumbered me, I could easily resist their primary attack method, which was fire. I also had a large number of diverse skills to attack with.

In order to win, I just had to keep my cool and make use of my advantages against them.

Taking deep breaths, I watched as the dogs circled around me, giving each other looks to remain coordinated before tensing and jumping forward.

I grimaced slightly in concentration and bent my legs before activating the next skill.

Block

Feeling some kind of rigid energy suddenly course through me, my body stiffened, and a small shockwave instantly burst outwards, halting the demon's momentum and stunning them in mid-air.

I grinned.

Counter

The blade in my hand flashed with a bright light as I lashed out quickly, cutting into the side of the nearest demon and feeling myself become strengthened due to the skill.

However, I could only attack one of the dogs before the other two jumped out of reach, recovering from my previous Block.

That was fine, though. The one I had landed a counter on was still easily within the range of my sword.

My eyes locked onto the injured demon as I readjusted my grip on the blade.

Blood Rush

I lashed out, cutting deep into the demon and throwing it back, but I didn't let it run.

Stepping forwards, I kept pace while continuing to slash at it, feeling more powerful and faster each time a hit connected. Its black blood flying outwards and it stumbling onto the rocky ground, snarling and trying to counterattack.

It jumped towards me, snapping at my neck with mad intensity; however, it was simply too slow by that point.

I sidestepped, grabbed its neck with my free hand, and drove my sword through its skull.

You Have Slain: Canidos, Level 6

+36 XP Acquired

The Blood Rush skill was something interesting, to me. After reading through the descriptions of all my skills while we were taking a break earlier, that one stood out. Basically, the more damage that I dealt to enemies while the skill was active, the more my speed and strength would increase.

It was a basic "Berserker" skill you would see in a story or game, but that didn't make it any less valuable. And by testing it out against that one demon, I could definitively say that my initial expectations of it weren't wrong.

Every time I attacked that Canidos, I could feel my body becoming stronger and faster.

The skill would definitely be useful in the future.

That said, my eyes quickly flicked to the corner of my vision to look at my SP.

SP: 13/19

I had already used 6 SP throughout the fight so far, and I had only taken down one of the demons! There were still two more, and even after this fight was over, Kehl would be dragging me into more encounters! This current fighting strategy would be terrible in the long run!

Hearing the growls of the remaining demons, I instantly jumped away from two more attacks and scrambled backward frantically, holding my sword out in front of my body and glaring at the dogs.

I stared at the two of them, hard.

I wet my chapped lips while hurriedly thinking of my next plan.

There were two options for me here. I could either go all out with my skills, using up my SP and potentially crippling my fighting potential in the future fights, or try and preserve my SP while fighting without skills, which would be much more dangerous in the short term.

Canidos: Level 6

Canidos: Level 5

There were two of them, and one was a slightly higher level than me while the other was of equal strength.

Both of them had a surprising amount of intelligence, able to coordinate with each other well and aim for my vitals accurately.

The fight was already hard enough, even while using all my skills. Did I really want to intentionally handicap myself?

...Intentionally handicap myself, huh?

I narrowed my eyes, still coldly staring at the two demons as they attempted to circle me, but I suddenly raised my head and yelled.

"Hey, Kehl! I wanna confirm something real quick!"

His creepy voice came from above me.

"What is it."

"When in a difficult fight, you'll get more XP, right?! Even if the fight is difficult because you hamper yourself intentionally?!"

There was a small silence, as the only noise for a few moments were the demon's footsteps on the dusty ground, as they paced around me quietly.

"...Correct."

As Kehl's response reached me, a grin slowly crept across my face.

My plan had been decided, and I had a feeling this was going to be fun.