"For demons, there is nothing quite like conflict, particularly life and death conflict, when it comes to consolidating strength."

"No matter how much a demon is taught and trains without battle they will never reach their full potential."

— Snippet of a seminar on demonology taught by Rasathlab.

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Location: < The recreation cavern of 'Uggrock's Den' > - One of many caverns found throughout the upper stratums of the netherworld.

POV.: Nameless silver-haired demon larva.

As I dodged yet another stream of fire from the lizard, I noticed that my thoughts had become a tangled mess. So mid-combat, I spent a few precious seconds calming myself down.

Moments later, I once more calmly took in the monster's appearance.

The monster—clearly a lizard of some sort—was about as long as I was tall. Its red scales were covered in magical flames covering it an flaming armour that would make it difficult to kill without also harming myself.

Either way, I was certain that if I just charged forward like most demon larvae would, taking its searing hot fire breath head-on and slashing its neck, I could kill it and win. However, attacking it like that would almost certainly do unnecessary damage to me and I wasn't a fan of unnecessary damage.

Plus, I didn't want to be just another demon larvae, I wanted to be something more, something stronger!

And so it was that I danced circles around the red lizard as it tried to attack me, analyzing its attack patterns.

It wasn't long before I noticed that the lizard couldn't fire off its fire breaths back to back as I had thought it could. Rather there was always at least a few-second gap between its breath attacks. A gap which got bigger before and after it let out a particularly strong fire breath.

So I waited until its next fire breath had finished before launching myself towards it, aiming to sever its neck with my unusually sharp claws. However, as if it had predicted my attack, the red lizard slightly raised its thick tail that it had already curled towards its neck.

Not wanting to waste this small window of opportunity, I managed to redirect one of my claws toward the lizard's face while letting the other cut through its tail with surprising ease, despite the uncomfortable heat of the tail's flames.

As I jumped back, just in time to dodge the lizard's fire breath, I noticed with some surprise that I had managed to blind the lizard in one eye.

So as the red lizard was panicking at its loss of sight, I snuck up on its blind side and got ready to jab my tail either through its neck or into its brain, I hadn't yet decided which.

However, I hadn't been given any time to decide as the red lizard, sensing something was wrong, turned towards me and opened its mouth to send another fire breath my way.

As my eyes once more saw the ambient aether travelling towards the lizard's mouth, a tell tail sign that it was about to let out a stream of fire.

Knowing I had little to no time to act, I sent my tail hurdling into its open mouth and piercing through the lizard's skull I embedded my tail into its brain.

After a short struggle the red lizard, still impaled on my tail fell limp and as it did so the flames covering the lizard's body sputtered and then went out.

In the corner of my vision, I saw one of the adult demons approaching the raised platform. Indicating that I didn't have much time.

Looking down at the limp corpse of the red lizard I couldn't identify a core assuming it had one in the first place. However, I did notice that its egg tooth¹ had abnormal amounts of aether around it.

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So in the short time I had before the adult demon reached the raised platform I was on, I stooped over the lizard's corpse. Then using one of my unusually sharp claws I cut out the lizard's egg tooth along with a section of its premaxilla.

Then while quickly standing up I concealed the tooth in my palm as I waited for the the adult demon and whatever was to come next.

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"Angels can be taught in many ways. Some have been known to be self-taught while others were the product of multiple expert tutors working together. However, no matter how they are taught angels, and in particular fledgling angels, are incredibly fast learners that absorb new information like sponges."

— Snippet of a seminar on angelology taught by Elnor.

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Location: < Training chamber of the 'Temple of Birth' > - One of a few such places scattered through the isolated corners of the lower heavens.

POV.: Nameless silver-haired fledgling angel.

I sat panting and out of breath resting on what felt like packed sand but was actually the stone floor of the Temple's training chamber. Between tired pants, I thought back to what Eri had said last night, "You will start training first thing tomorrow morning, and it's going to be intense."

At the time I hadn't thought much of it but now as I thought back on those words they seemed to ring with an ominous tune.

Eri had been lying when she had said my training was going to start first thing in the morning. Since she had woken me up for training before morning had even started.

As I had followed Eri to the training chamber she had explained that since today was the first day she wanted to test my physical and mental capabilities before we started the training. And for that, we would need the extra time.

I remember asking her why she didn't just use the analysis skills she had talked about earlier.

At that, Eri had explained how although the system had helped consolidate and perfect the analyzing ability and spells she had had before the System, it didn't do anything that wouldn't have been possible without the System. Likewise, she had explained, that her analysis skills worked best when she could see the target of her analysis in action.

It was while we were having that innocent conversation that I had stepped into this prison of a chamber.

At first, her requests had been nice and easy. For example, she had asked me to tell the difference between two identical crystals, read the symbols on the far side of the chamber and so on.

Then she had moved on to more physical takes. But they had also been fun. For example, Eri had asked me to jump as high as I could or to sprint across the chamber as fast as I could.

Soon after I was asked to repeat the physical takes but this time with magically weighted bracelets. This I mused should have been the first clue to the true horrors that were going to come next.

Since after I had done all those things with various levels of weight Eri had asked me to run laps around the chamber. This seemed innocent enough Until you realized I would be doing it with weights, and she hadn't specified the number of times I had run around the chamber since it was until I collapsed from exhaustion.

And so I had run, and run, and run, for what felt like hours. Eventually, I felt as if every step was a challenge akin to fighting a dragon on its own.

But even then my own conviction to do my best and train my hardest hadn't let me stop. Step after step I had dragged myself onward until eventually, my body had refused to move. No matter how much I willed it to move I just collapsed.

Seeing this, Eri had quickly sent a healing spell my way before noting something down on a pad of parchment she had been carrying with her.

When the spell had hit me, a warm healing energy had washed over me, renewing my strength and stamina. Not completely but enough that I could complain like was currently doing. And that was how I had ended up panting on the Temple's training chamber's floor after a workout so intense it felt like only my bones had been left.

And it wasn't even breakfast time yet!

To my immense relief, Eri took pity on me and informed me that, "That should be it for the assessment, moreover it's almost breakfast time so let us take a break to go and eat."

Glad for any excuse to get out of here I jumped at the opportunity, quickly—or as quickly as I could in my current condition—I jumped towards the the archway exiting from the chamber.

As I made my way to the kitchen, following Eri down the hallway, she quickly explained to me my lesson plan for the day.

Right after breakfast up to lunchtime, I would be learning from Eri. Today she said she would be focusing on spirit-qi cultivation and the legacy I had inherited.

Then after lunch, Marut had agreed to begin teaching me sorcery. This would be followed by Taurus who had agreed to teach me some momenta affinity skills.

When I had asked Eri what "momenta affinity skills" were she had only smiled before saying that it was a surprise, that I would love.

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¹ "Most squamates (lizards and snakes) also lay eggs, and similarly need an egg tooth. Unlike in other amniotes, the egg tooth of squamates is an actual tooth which develops from the premaxilla." (Link)