Walking outside into the cool night air felt… really good actually. It was somehow different in the city than while out on the plains traveling by caravan. Probably something to do with all the trees. Standing outside… was a woman. A woman for a brief, horrifyingly stupid, moment I thought was ‘fat’ before realizing my understanding of elves had just totally collapsed.

She wasn’t fat… she was absolutely ripped. She had an elves grace and beauty, along with the pointed ears, but that was where the similarities fucking ended. She was built like a brick house… that ate another brick house and then decided that wasn’t enough, and had a third brick house for dessert. Mother of god. The fucking girth on this woman, all raging muscle. My Power Gauge confirmed it. I was dealing with a fucking titan of a woman, firmly in B Rank. My hopes of winning were slim to none. Surprisingly, if we all ganged up and attacked immediately, we had a fair chance. Fair being about fifty fifty.

Oh god, was this my life now? Judging every new person I see by my ability to kill them? Damn power gauge, it was going to turn me into a psychopath. Admittedly though, I was still mentally reeling from my previous conversation with Konohora. But time waits for no man and I sure as hell wasn’t going to make this woman wait.

“Kasandra. Thank you for meeting with us so soon.” Konohora said.

I looked over to Tyler and Riary, happy to not be an odd one out here. Riary tried to hide it a little, but she was practically staring with a slack jaw at the woman. Tyler was hiding absolutely nothing, jaw literally open, and pupils shaking as he saw the trainer. No doubt Riary was the one who saw her first, because it was clearly the first time he was actually seeing her.

“You paid in gold honey. Now that there is talking money. So, this your whole team?” She asked, sounding about what I expected. In other words, gruff, but not unkind.

I noticed, finally, that on her back was a fucking double sided War Axe. I also noticed her giving each of us an eye, especially me. Inspecting us, no doubt.

“Yes. This is Riary, our mage. Tyler, our defender. And Derek.”

Wow, thanks Konohora. So awesome to not get role. Come on now. Kasandra snorted.

“Oi, demon. You know how to use that thing on your back?”

“Not even a little bit. I’m hoping to learn.”

“Oh? Come at me then. Show me how you normally fight.”

I blinked, before looking at Konohora. I mean… was this okay or…? Kasandra clearly wasn’t patient.

“Hey, it’s your money you’re wasting. Now come over here already, I don’t got all day.”

I shrugged, focused, and ran at Kasandra. I did my best not to hesitate despite the B-Rank aura pounding away at my head, especially as I moved closer. This was where experience helped. Vanessa had a stronger aura.

I reached Kasandra who didn’t even take her War Axe off her back. But I wasn’t arrogant, she had no reason to. She could crush me with her hands alone. I swung my claws at her head, only for her to sidestep. I was saying one hundred thank you’s to my power at the moment, otherwise I’d be surprised. Kasandra, despite being large and strong, was not at all slow. Heavens and gods, no. She was not slow at all.

A fist whipped towards my face, almost faster than I could see, but I was already moving out of the way, claws making another pass at her face while my tail snapped out like a razor sharp whip, aiming for her chest. I had a moment to see her frown before she really moved. She dodged my tail, my claws, and had more than enough lee way to send a haymaker of a punch towards my face. I turned, but couldn’t dodge, feeling like a fucking train smacked into me. My head snapped back, my jaw cracked and probably broke, and my spine felt like it came loose. Still, I’d long learned to make use of my pain resistance, so I hadn’t stop attacking. She was fast but I wanted to be faster. My claws finally made contact, ripping up her arm, while my tail transferred its momentum into a side swipe on her large body. She’d either need to jump, lay down on the ground, or block it to prevent the attack.

My eyes almost bulged as she chose to fully put her back to it, turn to the side, and send an elbow square into my diaphragm. It knocked the breath out of me, leaving me gasping for a moment. My tail went forward, but was stopped as it smacked into the War Axe on her back. My claws were like wet noodles slapping against a wall as I gasped for air. I’d never been hit like that, ever. Not even the ogre had hit me as hard. Certainly not right into my diaphragm.

So the next punch, I was hopeless to dodge. This time, it squarely rocked into my face and I felt myself falling backwards, before I stomped a foot forward and speared a claw into Kasandra’s chest. Not much though, her flesh was thick.

Things came to a stand still, and I belatedly noticed that my nose was completely broken. Smashed squarely into my face. I was pretty sure I also had a concussion and my jaw had taken that last hit as the sign it should give up the ghost and break a little more. But the absolute worst part was the breathing. My nose was fucking broken and blood filled it. I could taste and smell nothing but blood, and a lot of it, and I also couldn’t breathe. I hadn’t recovered from the elbow yet. And the gasps I could get in were bloody. It was fucking miserable and the most I’d managed was a few cuts on her arm and half an inch into her chest. If she pulled out that weapon, I’d be fucked.

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

“Interesting.” Kasandra said, looking down at my claws in her chest. She then reached down, and grabbed my arm, pulling it out. I pulled my tail back to me, worry sprouting a little, hoping I wasn’t about to be beat within an inch of my life. I had a feeling that pain tolerance or not, I’d feel fucking miserable by the end of it.

“Speedy and high pain tolerance. Wait. No.” She looked me square in the eyes and squinted. I shivered as suddenly I felt like she was the one with Analyze. “You don’t feel pain at all. That’ll make you damn good in a fight then. This is how you normally fight?”

I tried to talk but air was in short supply and blood was in abundance. Still, through a cracked jaw, I made out some words.

“Yews-yes. Iwa- I, fight with my clauws, Claws, and tail. I hit sharp, hard, and fast.”

Kasandra let go of my arm and rubbed her chin, blood still lightly trickling out her chest. Konohora took that moment to heal us both and I felt relief that the blood was finally pouring out my nose properly. Kasandra then reached forward, grabbed my nose, and for a moment, I was absolutely sure she broke it again, this time with her index finger and thumb.

“Setting it.” She said, and Konohora nodded in thanks.

I took a step back and just blew my nose a bit, getting all the blood out and finally sweet, sweet air.

“So you’re a frontline fighter. Well, you could be a lot of things I suppose, mostly that or a rogue, but that’s up to you. Skirmisher is possible too though. Would make a damn good skirmisher. Alright, I’ll get ya a good trainer. Only one in mind for now but I’ll try to get ya a greatsword fighter later.”

Wait a minute…

“You’re not training us?” I asked.

“Hmm? Me personally? Nah. Be a waste of my time and your money. I’m just the manager kid. I’ll get you all your own trainers and work with you on the side on some basics. How best to focus and most importantly for you four, to work together and fight as a team. Been curious about the demon in the city since I’ve heard about ya. There’s this weird rumor about you and a kid-”

I suddenly glared, very, very hard.

Kasandra smirked. “Hey, don’t look at me like that. It ain’t that type of rumor. Say kids find you cute, like a puppy.”

My glare turned into a disgusted grimace. Ugh. Whatever.

“Now, time’s a wasting. Oi, defender, you’re up.”

Tyler looked stunned for a second, before nodding. In that way, I got to see all three of teammates get their asses absolutely handed to them. Sadly, not as bad as I did, but to be fair, they were working off information they had. After all, they’d seen me fight her.

After it was all done, Kasandra was nodding along like it was natural.

“Good, very good. I ain’t going to blow smoke up your asses but I was worried a weak kingdom like Mauv wouldn’t have a good Heroes team. Glad to be proven wrong, ya know? Still, there’s a lot of room for improvement. Hell, lot of room for fast improvement and that’s never a good thing. I won’t ask if you won’t tell… but all four of you got noticeably stronger recently didn’t you?”

All four of us frowned at that. Kasandra raised her hands.

“Hey, like I said, ain’t none of my business about what you four have been up to. Still, makes for a bad situation. You never want to fall into an area where it’s easy to improve. Means something has gone horribly wrong. Once knew a dragonkin, just gone through puberty. It was like putting a child in an adult's body. Funny, but strong. All raw power, no utilization. That kinda shit happens with all those ‘quick’ power ups and it makes training all that more difficult. And necessary.”

Fair enough. I may be a lot stronger than when I first got to this world… but I was only marginally more experienced by comparison. Konohora had basically gotten a new body, possibly even a new species depending on your viewpoint, while Riary had new magic that got a massive boost in everything and Tyler had practically leap frogged his aura and general capabilities.

“Thank you Kasandra.” Konohora said and nodded.

Kasandra waved it away. “Just a warning. I’ll be back in, hmm, three, four days? Most of the people I have in mind are either retired or resting from their traveling or adventuring. Still gonna take a while to talk to all of them. I’ll meet with you then to discuss it further. Till then, don’t die. Would be annoying if you croaked while I’m doing all this work.”

And with that, quick as she arrived, she left, walking away.

“Well,” Riary said, a slight smirk or smile on her face. Hard to tell really. “I like her.”

You would.

“I wonder what kind of trainers we’re going to get.” Tyler asked, polishing his blood off his shield. Part of me really admired Tyler. He didn’t have pain resistance like I did but still took that hit like a champ.

“Hopefully, they are pleasant.” Konohora said.

****

“A demon? Oh I got to see this.” A cruel voice laughed.

Kasandra just shook her head. That poor bastard.