I followed Kasandra pretty far. It’s not like I thought it would be a short trip or anything but I also wasn’t expecting half an hour of walking. Neither of us really said much, content to just walk. It was the middle of the day and there was plenty of hustle and bustle. I’d decided to don a cloak with my hood up this time. It gathered attention, sure, but less than if I was showing my horns. I really didn’t want to become some B-Rank human, or apparently sympathetic Elf’s, mantle piece. Or a child’s jungle gym. Both of those realities sounded… unpleasant.

It was a companionable silence but it was clear Kasandra was a bit annoyed.

“Don’t think I’ll lead you back and forth every time or some nonsense like that. I’m your Team Manager, not a gods damn ferry service. You can walk your own way here from now on.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Kasandra grunted, probably in affirmation, and we continued on. The god damn size of the city continually blew me away. The massive trees were one thing but I’d still never been in a city with so much space. Wide open plains, with short healthy green grass. I mean hell, I felt like I was in a never ending park but then I’d look out and see rows and rows of plant or tree houses and- was that a fucking leaf?! How the hell did you even make a leaf that big? How did it work as a house?

No, focus. More than a few elves or families were just playing or casually resting in the grass. To my surprise and shock, for some reason, I saw a few things I’d for some reason considered modern. For example, frisbee. It wasn’t a piece of plastic, it was made of wood, but it was still a disk people were throwing back and forth. I saw some people who I couldn’t tell from here if they were just fast and casually walking, or actively jogging and going for a run. That line got a bit blurry after all.

And the final thing was pets. Dogs, and I was suddenly struck by how few dogs I’d seen till now. There weren’t many but I was pretty sure that was only because people had a lot more types of pets than I’d expected. Dogs, cats that seemed quite active for some reason, blue cute slimes, some rather large birds, what looked like a hedgehog that… breathed fire? As I looked out I was slightly reminded of the fact that the danger to most people isn’t other people, but straight up monsters. Seeing a small treant fall over and start crying, while a small child ran over to comfort him(?), I wasn’t really feeling the threat. I also should really figure out if all Treants were monsters or considered another race by now. It hadn’t been in my books and I was too afraid to ask anyone but Konohora.

“This is a beautiful City.”

Kasandra looked where I was looking and mulled her lips for a second. Finally, her expression became a little wistful. Like a physical version of a sigh.

“This part is. Watch your back in the dungeon kid.”

We continued on and around half an hour since we left, we finally neared the building my trainer was at. It wasn’t just a tree. I’d seen this ‘building’ for a long while now. Besides the massive, massive trees that I just casually assumed the rich or well off lived on, in, and around, this was one of the biggest. But it was made in… a really, really odd style. I’d seen a few ‘human’ houses, square blocks of wood I knew were all one plant. But this one seemed… harsher. There were more ‘spikes’ and it definitely wasn’t a square. It gave off a brutal feeling and my vision almost wanted to paint it black to fit its domineering image. It reminded me of a stereotypical demon lord’s castle, except made out of wood.

…I’m sure that my trainer is very nice and not at all actually evil.

We walked to the side of the place, where there was a natural wall. One that was connected but not quite the same as the rest of the place, with two giant wooden doors about twelve feet tall baring the way. As Kasandra pushed it open, I understood why this place looked so strange.

It was a training arena. Stone made up the floor and a wooden wall lined the rest of it. It reminded me of the time I went to a chinese garden with my friends. There had been a courtyard almost exactly like this one inside those walls. Noticing some of the architecture, I felt like I needed to make a rapid adjustment. It did look demonic, but I could also definitely see certain ancient chinese styles in it. Something about that pricked my brain but I would leave well enough alone for now.

I had bigger worries.

My trainer stood across from me… and she was nothing like I had expected. For starters, she was clearly at least a little Asian. That was shocking enough. I hadn’t even noticed it but every single human I’d met till now looked western or European in nature. Wouldn’t have been able to guess any of them weren’t born or descended from Americans. It was kind of a multi-shock really. Suddenly I realized I hadn’t seen bio diversity amongst humans, now I was, and that raised even more questions. Like ‘Why?‘ and ‘How far from here did she come? How big is the human territory, really?’

But her race was far from the most dramatic thing. She wore an emerald dress, not just green, but a bright shining emerald color. It flowed down her body and practically ended faster than you’d expect. There were slits on the side at the waist showing the sides of her legs but it felt almost unnecessary. There was only a small strip of cloth below those slits and it looked like an errant breeze was one blow away from causing her to show damn near everything.

The dress was sleeveless and seemingly immune to physics as I saw no way it was being held up. It only went up to her chest, a tiny bit above it, and then nothing. Not straps or connections. Bare arms and neck. She had short black hair, and she was smiling as I walked in. I couldn’t see her ears but she definitely held herself with the grace and poise of an elf. Hell, it went beyond that, she looked like a noble or royal had gone for a stroll.

The final thing I caught was that she wore no shoes and had bracelets with long narrow ‘bars’ on each of her forearms.

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“So, this is the demon I’ve heard so much about? You’ve caused quite a stir you know?” She said, voice sweet like honey. I found myself almost involuntarily perking up.

“All I did was walk into the city. I don’t know how that qualifies for causing a stir.”

“Then you’re stupid. Another town would be fine but Prinsk? Elves and humans who fought in that war live here you know. Seeing you is no different from seeing the enemy. Honestly, you would probably be dead within a week if your team leader hadn’t put on such a good show.”

I smiled helplessly. That fact wasn’t lost on me. Tyler himself had said he’d taken a hit from wind magic that he felt could kill him, twice. That bar was raised a lot higher for Tyler than for others. Overkill is what it was. Then he’d left with barely any injuries, after taking down the main antagonist, leader of a Heroes Team, in one move. Not all B-Ranks were equal. There were quite a few in this city we could take down. No one wanted to be the fool atop the pyre though.

It was almost unnerving how ‘okay’ I was with everything. It wasn’t that long ago that a human village looking at me with hate and wariness filled me with unease. Now I’m fine being in an elven city where people are actively trying to kill me. One of the most dangerous situations I’d been in yet and yet… we were still staying here. I just… didn’t care. I should, but don’t. I don’t know if it’s confidence or what. It’s certainly not a death wish. I was changing and I’d been hit by too much too fast I suppose. Or maybe after being broken down and remade by a Galaxy sized, living plane of energy, I just didn’t care or sweat the small things. City with a few powerful demon haters who want my head? Ehh, whatever.

I shrugged and the woman’s eyes narrowed. Kasandra took that moment to step in.

“This is Xilvia. She’ll be your trainer till she says she isn’t or you run out of money, whichever comes first. Good luck, don’t die.”

And with that, Kasandra left, closing the giant wooden gate on her way out. Huh. I hope I can open those.

“I’m Der-”

Left, right, claw. I blinked. I had moved on utter instinct and Power Gauge screaming. I looked down, only now taking in what the fuck had just happened. Xilvia was standing across from me, seeming like she hadn’t even moved. The fans in her hand cutting through my claws said otherwise. She had moved faster than I could think or blink, pulled out two fans from the ‘bars’, actually sheathes, on her arms, and then began to slash at me. I’d dodged to my left, then right, and finally blocked with a claw. That… my claws had never been damaged before. Not once. Even when I’d been blown to pieces, I still don’t think they actually took damage but more separated from the rest of me.

And now they were being carved into by green and white chinese fans that were apparently the sharpest things on the planet. My jaw was hanging open.

“Hmm? Oh, don’t mind. Please, continue with your introduction.” Xilvia said, as if she hadn’t just moved with the intent to kill.

“I-I’m Derek.”

“A pleasure to meet you Derek.” Xilvia said, before my chest burst open.

I looked down in shock and realized that I couldn’t tell… if she had already injured me or just attacked again. Either way, there were six slashes going across my chest, causing my blood to explode forward violently.

Oh fuck.

“Bit slow for a demon.” Xilvia said and this time, I felt it. There was no time to think or plan, I used all my power to simply move.

Slash slash slash slash slash. It was a whirlwind of attacks. I couldn’t see more than half of them, moving faster than my eyes could see, but I knew they were coming and that made all the difference. Blood still poured out my chest but it was only the beginning. Even as I flung my body away, up, down, and more, even as I parried and blocked with both my tail and claws, even as I tried fiercely to run away, cuts still opened on me.

Lines of red opened up on my arms, my hands, a few nasty gashes on my face, one across my forehead, one across my neck, dozens more up and down my chest, a few on my legs, and that was the least of the damage. Despite all that, my heart was frozen in fear. Every single attack was made with the intent to kill. They were only light because I was dodging. Without that I’d be exsanguinated by now. No, I’d be cut into literal pieces.

I felt my dick get nicked and my eyes went wide. Hey! Come on now, what are you doing?!

But even then, the most damaging attacks were to my claws and tail. They were being chipped away. With another horrific slash, it finally happened. Half of three of my claws went sailing off. There wasn’t pain but… I could tell there should be. The sensation was extreme. Like someone touching your extremely sensitive flesh. It was uncomfortable in a way I knew should leave me screaming in agony.

I turned, whirring, throwing my tail forward to try and slash back before those fans carved further into me when-

Ow! Wait…. OW?!

I froze and thankfully so did Xilvia. I quickly checked what my senses were telling me and let out a breath of relief. I hadn’t suddenly lost my pain tolerance or been subjected to a pain worse than hell. I’d just felt such an extreme sensation that it was like my mind had gone blank for a moment. I’d reacted on instinct. It was similar but hundreds of times worse than when Vanessa had torn off a third of my tail.

The reason for that was obvious. Lying on the ground… was my tail. Half of it. Xilvia had cut my tail in half while it was extended to its fullest. I stared at it, mouth gaping open. That… that was my tail. My fucking tail. She’d cut right through the corded muscle between each razor sharp clink.

I moved what was left in front of me, watching dark red blood gush out of it. It was only in that moment that I realized I was starting to feel weak and woozy. I looked down at the rest of myself as I began to sway.

“So you do have pain immunity and not resistance. Useful.” Xilvia said with a small smile.

I looked up at her… and every piece of me wanted to run, far, far away.

I turned back towards the gate, taking a stumbling step, when I felt an odd cutting sensation across my back.

“Don’t show your back to an enemy.” Xilvia said.

I turned back around, semi-quickly, and could already feel blood gushing out that wound. Xilvia had cut deep with that one. I had expected that our fight and training was over but…

Xilvia rushed at me again! Fear fully gripped me now.

This woman…. was more of a demon than I was!