As Dream saw the behemoth closing in on him, a certain primal fear was spurred in his gut. And along with this fear came the flick of a switch that activated his fight or flight mode.

And he chose to fight.

*Boom!*

Mana gushed out from his body and spread through the entire area in a fraction of a second. And in this fraction of a second he received all the data about the big fish that was still getting closer.

[113 meters in length. C+ level mana. Is definitely going to swallow you whole if you don't move.]

Although she gave a warning, it seemed like Dream hadn't heard it. Instead, his muscles activated and his mana began to agitate.

*Shing!*

Suddenly, the speed of the fish slowed greatly and it began sinking in front of Dream. A dense purple fog also began to spread from around the fish. It was blood.

[I guess that works.]

Very simply, Dream had separated the fish's head from its body, like a chef with tuna. But although he had so easily killed it, the fear he felt hadn't lessened.

In order to not have the massive fish crash into him Dream quickly moved up and out of the way. Though he didn't stop there and quickly rocketed to the surface.

After he breached through the water and flew up into the air Dream directed course back to land. While screaming of course.

"OHMYGODTHATWASTHESCARIESTSHITOFMYLIFE!! AHHH!!!"

...........

.......

"Hm?"

As Ciroc and Idona lounged around with a drink, both suddenly turned towards the ocean.

"You hear that?"

"I did. Was it Dream?"

"I think so. Oh, there he is."

"I guess he's done playing in the water. He went awfully far."

Ciroc pointed in the distance where only one with their level of vision could see a little dot heading towards them.

Soon, Dream was making his way back onto land.

Although he should be dry from flying, he had actually found some dolphin-like animals in the water on his way back. Since he had only ever seen dolphins before, he decided to go and check out this weird species. Only after checking the surrounding thousand meters though. But after finding nothing scary, he jumped back into the water and played around with these surprisingly friendly animals.

So now he was walking back onto land, wet dripping hair and tanned skin glistening in the sun.

"I could totally do a cologne commercial. Except I'd need to have a french accent. They always say fragraunce in a weird way."

"Have fun, Dream?"

Ciroc greeted him from the ship.

"Uh, yes and no."

"No?"

"Well...Let's just say I really don't like big fish."

"...Hahahaha!!"

Out of nowhere, Ciroc began loudly laughing his ass off. If Dream were a normal person his laughs would be enough to make his ears ring. He titled his head.

"Why."

"Hehe, oh nothing. It's just that I also don't like the water because of the big fish. They give me the creeps. What'd you find out there?"

"A fish whose eyes were bigger than me. It was a class 2 with C level mana. After killing it I got the hell out of there and played with some nicer fish on my way back."

"Heh. You're a funny one."

"I don't know if I'll be going back to the ocean for a while."

"So what are you going to do now? There was actually some food that was brought out you can eat."

"Hmm...you wanna spar?"

"Oh?"

Ciroc suddenly snapped to attention, as did many others inside the ship. Dream recoiled a bit at the intense reaction.

"Something wrong?"

"...What kind of spar were you thinking?"

"Nothing crazy obviously. Just some bare-bones, no mana, no weapon sparring. And I know you would kick my ass, but I wanted to see how big the difference is between someone at your level and myself. To put things in perspective."

"Hmm..."

Ciroc went quiet for a bit, sizing Dream up. Everyone else also paid attention, wanting to hear an answer.

"...Alright. Let's see what you're made of."

Ciroc smiled and stood up, exiting the ship. Everyone else smiled and began gathering around to watch the show.

As he walked onto the sand, the 7 foot tall Ciroc removed his shirt, putting it into his inventory. Dreams eyes widened at the absolute hulk before him.

'...I'm pretty sure this man is the personification of hulk. I mean, how can someone have such insane muscles?! And the aura of this guy. I swear he just radiates testosterone. Talk about a dude.'

As he sized up Ciroc, the man himself walked over and stood before Dream, towering over him by a whole foot.

"You said bare-bones? It's been a while since I've fought martial arts."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Yea. I just ask that you don't injure me too much. We do have demons to fight later."

"And knowing that, why did you ask for a spar?"

Idona walked over to them, looking at Dream with a 'What the hell are you doing?' face.

"Like I said earlier. I wanna see where I am. Plus I have nothing else to do. Might as well do something fun."

"...*sigh* Just watch yourself please. You as well, Ciroc."

"Sure, sure. I won't mess up your boyfriend's nice face too much."

"W-wha?"

"...Was there something I missed while in the water?"

"No! N-nothing. I'm getting a drink."

Idona quickly turned and walked off, leaving Dream confused and looking to Ciroc for an answer.

"It's nothing. Anyway, you ready?"

Ciroc squared up, causing Dream to do the same. Everyone in the ship eagerly watched, as did Idona who had sat down.

"Yup."

"Then come at me."

"..."

Ciroc released some of his aura, giving off a lion-like presence. Dream could immediately tell how far he was above him, but the interesting thing was that Ciroc's mana didn't actually tower over his as much as he thought it would.

'He specialized in strength, so his mana probably isn't as high as someone like Idona. Though it's most likely that he's still passed A level. But I won't know for sure until I reach that level myself.'

Dream hypothesized, but not for long. He soon made his move and sped up his perception, which in turn seemed to slow down time.

Since he said no mana, Dream didn't use any mana. He simply walked forward stably across the sand and approached Ciroc. And right as he got into Ciroc's arm range, he launched forward with a burst of speed, throwing a punch.

*Thud*

Ciroc didn't bother blocking and let Dream's fist land on his abs. Though that was all they did, and a low sound rang out.

"Damn. You've got thick skin. What're you made of, metal?"

"Nope. It's called body reinforcement, something many melee fighters have. You seem to have it too. That was a surprisingly sturdy punch you threw."

"But it wasn't my best. Try this."

Dream pulled back his arm and launched another punch, but this time loaded with much more strength. He also used techniques he learned from Sophia to aid in the direction of momentum, driving it and delivering as much force as possible. And then he pulled back and threw another. Then another.

A flurry of jabs and punches were thrown, and despite the power behind them all, nothing showed on Ciroc's skin. Not even a ripple. It was like a child hitting a punching bag.

"Hmph. Let's see you take one of mine."

Saying so, Ciroc pulled back his fist and threw it upwards towards Dream's chest.

'He's fast.'

Dream saw that he couldn't dodge and braced himself.

*thud*

When the fist landed, the force was directed through his body and down to his feet, impacting the sand. This was a result of all the enchantments in his body as well as how it was designed, specializing in absorbing and redirecting impact.

The result was Dream not moving an inch from his spot. though he didn't get out totally unscathed,

'It didn't break any bones, but damn that was still a hard punch. Like someone hit me with a sledgehammer.'

Dream looked at his chest which had black shattering showing on his skin. He wasn't worried about the crystallizing showing though since nobody but him could see it.

"I'm surprised. You took that hit well. Your body is extremely sturdy."

"Thanks. I put a lot of effort into it."

"But that also means you can take more hits. Don't get too comfortable. You wanted a spar, I'm gonna give you a spar. I hope you know your martial arts."

"...I have some experience."

Dream suddenly thought about all his long fights with Sophia. How he would be constantly outmaneuvered and even overpowered. The high speeds, high power, high-intensity battles that lasted for dozens of hours. It wasn't much different than the situation right now.

"You're gonna need that experience. Here I come."

Suddenly, Ciroc's body shifted and he quickly threw another punch at Dream, who also quickly dodged.

"Hmph. Fast. But so am I."

Ciroc sped himself up and quickly threw another punch, one Dream couldn't dodge. This time though, Dream planted himself and blocked with both arms against that huge fist.

*Thud*

The fist was stopped by his arms, and Dream didn't move from his spot yet again. Though the pressure that came with doing that was great, and from his perspective, his skin had shattered further and turned a darker black.

"Indeed. You are tough. You must have a skill."

"Something like that."

"You'll need it."

Ciroc moved again, but this time he brought up his leg, kicking towards Dream's side. Dream in turn lowered his body and kicked the leg above him.

Though as Dream thought that he had avoided the leg, it suddenly came back down heel first. He smirked.

'I remember you pulling this exact same move.'

[I'm glad I was able to teach you well.]

Dream agreed with that and instead of trying to defend, went on the offensive. Using the momentum from the leg, he grabbed it and dropped low, swinging it over his shoulder.

*Fwap*

"Whoah! He actually moved him!"

"Looks like he really is strong."

"And he seems skilled in martial arts too. He's supposed to be a mage though right?"

"What kind of mage practices martial arts?"

"A few actually. Though not extensively."

Excitement came over the crowd as Dream successfully swung Ciroc's body over him. This was a maneuver that Dream had learned with Sophia only after failing dozens of times.

Dream created some distance as Ciroc recovered.

"Impressive. Using my own shift in weight against me. That's not an easy move to pull off."

"I had a good teacher. Though I still didn't get out unhurt."

Dream looked at his shoulder and hands that had shattering all over them. The force behind that leg wasn't light and he had to take a lot of it as he was doing the swing.

'I'm glad you replaced the bones with the steel particles. Otherwise I might have broken several bones today.'

Dream thanked Sophia as he watched Ciroc stand up. They faced each other.

"You've got a very sturdy body, good technique, you're fast, and especially strong for your size. I would say that you're about on the threshold for strength, agility, and maybe even stamina. You're well rounded."

"Maybe. But I can barely take your hits, even if I don't show it."

"That's what happens when you face a class 4 who specializes in this stuff. Though, I'm also holding back quite a bit."

"How much?"

"I could obliterate you with a single move. Kind of like this."

Before his sentence even ended, Ciroc moved and seemed to teleport to Dream's side. He then reached out and grabbed Dream's head with his hand before he could even react.

"...Shit."

Dream cursed as he felt the vice-grip clamping on his head. At this moment, his life was in Ciroc's hands. But he didn't panic as this was almost no different than the hundreds of other times that he had been checkmated by Sophia.

Ciroc looked at Dream's emotionless expression. He smiled and let out a bit of a threatening aura.

"To have your life in someone's hands doesn't scare you?"

"Not really. Though if we were in a situation where my life were actually threatened, I would have several ways of either getting out of it, or ensuring that my enemy would not."

After he said that, a certain aura began to radiate from Dream. It was also threatening, but not in a bloodthirsty way like he had usually seen. It was more deathly, spine-tingling, skull numbing. One that told Ciroc that this enemy in front of him was very capable of giving his life, if only to destroy another. One who didn't seem afraid of death. And the aura was thick and strong. Although it couldn't overwhelm his own in terms of power, he still instinctively wanted to avoid it.

Ciroc released his grip after Dream looked into his eyes. The aura was then retracted.

"...I think we can stop here. Heal your injuries."

"Sure. Thanks for the spar."

"No problem."

Both Ciroc and Dream walked back into the ship after that, taking their previous seats with Idona. Everyone else looked on in confusion for a bit before going back to their own thing.

"Nice performance. At least for the half minute that it lasted."

Idona spoke to them as they changed clothes and sat down.

"Thanks. I think I can take hits rather well as long as it's not a class 4 like him."

"You're not the worst punching bag I've ever hit either."

"Hehe, everyone saw you get put on your back though, Ciroc. That's not something you usually see when a class 3 fights a class 4."

"I let him because I was impressed by the technique. I definitely could have avoided it if I wanted."

"Mhmm. Of course."

"It pains me to say, but he could've. Given his speed and strength, if he didn't want me to do something then I wouldn't have been able to. The distance between us is too far."

"Aww, don't put yourself down. You're still young so there's no need to rush. If you want to get to our level then you need to slowly accumulate power over time. Slowly, but unceasingly. Develop your skills, level up, challenge yourself body and mind. And maybe someday you'll be standing at the top with us."

"*sigh* Maybe."

Dream looked off into the distance, as did the two beside him. The sun was setting over the watery horizon, making it look like a painting. Thoughts went in and out of Dream's head.

"...The sun's going down. We should wrap things up for the night."

"Indeed. We'll have an early day tomorrow."

Idona nodded to Ciroc, who stood up and spoke to everyone lounging around the ship. They all nodded and began preparing themselves to sleep for the night.

............

After the moon came out and everyone had either gone to bed or to sleep, Idona stood up from her chair. She turned to Dream, who had noticed.

"Dream. Would you care to join me for a walk?"