The first thing I noticed was just how cold Phestia was; I eased my way into which made the cold much more tolerable. Orga made an odd noise as she realized the temperature dropped while Ipnerslei just floated along unbothered by the cold. Hoggdin stepped out before unleashing an immense roar that dwarfed the previous roars I heard from him as my soul shook. I couldn’t hear the sound, but the vibrations made everything pulse and shake from the sheer force. I saw the green form of Orga collapse as she was clutching her skull. That had to be incredibly loud. Hoggdin grew to what I hoped was his full size as I just admired the sheer magnitude of him; I think his arm was currently bigger than the castle as his black form took shape. How was he so large? Dragons could get that large?

Switch back to physical form. You need to get used to the cold. Hoggdin ordered. I begrudgingly switched back to feel the frigid air attack every ounce of heat I possessed.

“It’s colder than I thought.” Orga grumbled as she was looking at the sheer size of Hoggdin.

I looked around, seeing we were in a snowy field. There were sparse trees with numerous rocky outcroppings on one side with mountains on the other which resembled hills next to Hoggdin. How big do get? I looked at the sky which was currently covered in gray clouds with light snow falling down from them. Hoggdin motioned towards the mountains as he looked at the trees for a moment. A blur shot from the trees, bounding over the field quickly, aiming directly at Hoggdin. Wait a second. It resembled me with white fur, three tails that had black tips, halos floating by the shoulders, and runes on its forearms except this one was more muscular than me as well as a bit broader. It lunged for Hoggdin, who simply swat the offender into the snow with his tail. The bounced up, resuming its attempt to attack Hoggdin. Hoggdin slammed his tail into it again to bury the figure in the snow. A few seconds later, I saw their paws claw out of the snow as it shakily got out and attempted a third time to attack Hoggdin. Hoggdin, who demonstrated he was vastly more patient on Tenebrae, used his tail to fling the into the air about as high as he slugged Nil earlier.

“Who’s that?” I asked, admiring the spread out form the was using to land. Why not just kick off the air?

“Ikol. We can wait for him to land.” Hoggdin answered, seeing him slowly descend.

“Is he a friend?” I probed. Hoggdin let out a chuckle.

“Actually, fight him Lux. He’s about your age so it should be fair enough. No need to let him land.” Hoggdin instructed me.

“Didn’t you say not to start with a fairer opponent?” I checked, wondering what the change was.

“I softened him up a bit. Ikol is also a great measuring stick.” Hoggdin explained while giving me a get to it face.

I sighed, as I knew there was no point in arguing. I combined and to quickly gain height as Ikol fell. Let’s test what we’re dealing with. I began with a as I augmented my swing with the thorns halo. Ikol’s amethyst eyes went wide as he realized I was now attacking him. He pivoted in the air, going to kick my sword away. My arm. My arm. My arm is numb. How can he kick that hard? I tried not to grimace as Ikol flipped in the air, kicked off his own , and launched himself at me. Lesson learned, don’t make this a strength contest. I augmented my body with to pivot around him so I was kicking him from the side. Ikol was barely deflected as he burst passed me, slamming into the snow below in a massive cloud. Ikol felt a bit more solid than Nil, which was not good. From the cloud below, Ikol jumped up before rapidly descending on me as he tore through the air. He’s fast too. Assuming Hoggdin didn’t suggest him just for me to lose, Ikol had to have some weakness I could use. I dodged under him, twisting so I could kick him further up into the air. Ikol was heavy, but I was able to create distance. No idea what he was capable of. I used , launching the seeking ball at him. Ikol simply caught it with his bare paw before clenching his other around it, crushing his paws together to break the . What? Wait. I observed Ikol who kicked down, trying to rake his claws across my side. I simply used to gain distance so he passed harmlessly through the air. A single was a mistake, I needed something like . Ipnerslei showed me how to rapidly cast multiple of them as well, which I was now using to create a bombardment for Ikol.

Fire away! I unleashed the barrage, attacking him from numerous angles. Ikol slammed his back legs against a wall of while curling up into a little ball right at me. The hit him but appeared to bounce off of him. Just how sturdy is he? Wait a second, he put himself into some kind of ball. Nil’s story of what Krahinn did came to mind, but how to use it? I didn’t have , so I made a solid bar with , that I swung into the ball as I thought of how to deal with his defense. Ikol unfurled at the last second, attempting to grab the bar. I used to kick off and rotate more, getting the bar under his arm and into his ribs. Thud. Not the most satisfying sound in the world, but it was enough to keep Ikol from actually touching me. He adjusted in the air, using one of his tails to alter his trajectory for me. I spun around, slamming the bar right between his eyes into his skull, which had an oddly hollow sound as he went back to the snow. His defense so far was solid, but also seemed to rely on the fact he could endure what I was doing. His defense had to give out eventually, right? I just made several , holding them until Ikol burst forth from the snow again. Why wasn’t he using ? Ikol’s eyes seemed to glow as his demeanor shifted. If I thought Ikol was fast before, it had nothing on his current speed. Despite the fact I was easily three hundred feet in the air, Ikol covered the gap in an instant with a small clap of thunder behind him. I used so he went through me to his noticeable irritation.

“Fight me head on!” Ikol roared, his voice sounding like a gong while he readjusted himself in the air.

“I like my method.” I retorted as I resolidified beneath him.

“Coward.” Ikol growled, trying to close the gap on me again. It finally clicked. He’s not using because he can’t use them effectively; he probably relies solely on . This is what Hoggdin was talking about. It also meant I couldn’t turn this into a match or I’d likely lose. With that, I turned myself into a ray of light and sent myself above him, so he’d barrel past me.

“More like using my head.” I taunted with a smirk.

Ikol rotated before climbing back up towards me. I still hadn’t done any lasting damage, but I at least had my strategy. Just play keep away until he’s exhausted. How long could that take? I didn’t have to do a bunch of flashy dodging and , just occasionally hit him while wearing him down. Ikol kept up his speed, unleashing a barrage of attacks. I definitely took a few notes from him as Ikol used his teeth, claws, tails, back legs, body, and even his hips to try and attack me. He didn’t limit himself to any one part, just whatever was closest he could attack with. Whenever I made myself a gap, Ikol got a nice into his body. But Ikol kept attacking, and attacking, and attacking, and attacking without slowing down at all. Just how much endurance does he have? This wasn’t going to work as I was currently starting to feel the fight, and Ikol hadn’t slowed down whatsoever. If he was feeling tired from all of this, it was not showing at all. I need to wear him down faster. He was using purely against me. What was it again? Beings like demons used to improve their bodies for , and improved their for flowing for ? I think that was right. Ipnerslei was telling me both were important; it was just which was doing the heavy lifting depending on what you were doing. I knew I didn’t stand a chance at hurting Ikol’s body. Muscle head. Ipnerslei said healing can be used while envisioning an alternate form to do damage, so that should be usable on right? When Nil scratched Hoggdin, he exerted the effect at the end of his sword. A sword would be too large, I needed something smaller, like a needle. Ikol was still throwing every attack under the sun he could muster at me while I formed needles between my claws out of . Have them hit, aim towards the , and then imagine restoring them smaller with . Hopefully this worked. I bided my time, waiting for Ikol to do a wide swing. He granted my wish, so I stabbed a needle into his arm, unleashing my idea.

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There was no mistake that it worked as Ikol howled with a face of sheer fury. In his rage, he swung full force at me with his other arm, which was easy to slip around and stab him again, plunging the needle into that shoulder. The needles weren’t going deep, but they didn’t need to for the to work. Success! Ikol let out a noise of discomfort as he rotated much faster than before, finally connecting. My ribcage sounded like firecrackers as I went flying from his kick into the snow. Ikol’s arms were hanging limply by his sides, with sparks of crackling around them as he couldn’t use the anymore. I immediately began using on my ribs as Ikol sprinted towards me while I climbed out of the snow. I barely dodged him, my ribs screaming at me as I put another needle in him. Ikol screamed, kicking his entire body sideways to slam into me. How was he this strong? I grit my teeth as I put the next needle into his hip, kicked around his thrashing, and stabbed a needle into his hip on the other side. This should freeze him up. Ikol adjusted faster than me, as I definitely slowed down from him connecting, slamming his head into mine. Why are there stars in the sky? It’s daytime. I was several feet away from him, struggling to get to my feet as my ears were ringing. My was working overtime to try and repair my body. He only cleanly connected three times and did this much damage. Hoggdin was right about me needing to be in better shape. I was at least on my feet as Ikol’s body refused to listen to him, with his frustration visibly growing with each attempt to march towards me. I launched the I had stored, bringing him to the snow.

“I win.” I gasped as Ikol couldn’t stand back up.

“I didn’t quit yet.” Ikol snapped back, scooting along the snow at me like a caterpillar.

“Enough.” Hoggdin declared while putting one of his hands between us.

“Don’t interfere. I can still fight.” Ikol spat at him, imagining he was still inching along. Hoggdin shrugged, lifting his hand away. I walked around the inchworm, my body howling in agony as I stabbed one last needle into his back.

“I win.” I insisted, hobbling back to where Ikol could see me. Ikol began dragging his body along with his chin.

“Not. Yet.” Ikol stated when his mouth wasn’t buried in snow. By this point, my ribs were healed enough that they weren’t screaming.

“Have it your way.” I taunted, making another bar of light. I aimed my swing between his eyes, lifted the bar, and went to swing down as hard as I currently could. Hoggdin’s claw delicately caught it about an inch from Ikol’s head. Ikol was still staring at me, and then began trying to bite me now that he was close.

“Ikol, enough. You lost.” Hoggdin ordered. Ikol was visibly pouting.

“I don’t want to lose.” Ikol retorted, looking away from Hoggdin.

“Lux won. Knowing when to admit defeat is a valuable skill.” Hoggdin lectured. I won! Barely, but I won! Orga and Ipnerslei walked over, and Orga began pulling the needles out of Ikol.

“Lux, I told Orga that information to give her context, not inspire you to use it offensively.” Ipnerslei chided, sounding annoyed.

“I don’t need help!” Ikol yowled as Orga plucked another needle out.

“It worked though. I needed to slow him down.” I defended myself.

“I am helping you at least pull out the needles.” Orga snapped at Ikol.

“Ikol, these are my guests Ipnerslei, Orga, and Lux. Do not resist the assistance of Ipnerslei and Orga. Be glad I am tolerant of your repeated attempts to defeat me.” Hoggdin informed Ikol.

You better start healing faster Lux; Ikol is going to demand a rematch immediately. Hoggdin warned me.

“Keep the needles in him.” I told Orga as I tried healing more.

“I will win! I will rise again!” Ikol declared now that his arm was mobile. He reached around himself, pulling out the various needles.

As Hoggdin predicted, Ikol immediately squared up with me again. Before the words left his mouth, I was attempting to stab him with another needle. Ikol at least learned to fear the needles as he backstepped, twisting his body around the needle. Crap. Wait, how did Nil’s work? That needle ring? I remembered, making two to bombard Ikol with. Ikol dodged the needles prior to bursting forward with immense speed. His claws launched out, so I activated my halo as I could feel them raking across my side. It didn’t hurt, but the force was incredible as I stabbed a needle into Ikol. Ikol turned away, immediately pulling the needle out. Oh no you don’t. I pursued him, attempting to slam two more needles into him. Ikol made a wall of that the first hit, but my left arm rotated around the barrier to slam the needle into his shoulder. Ikol shoved his shoulder to attempt to hit me with my own needle. I barely got out of the way, borrowing a page from Ikol’s book, using my tail to slap him. Ikol howled as he realized I made a needle stinger on my tail which put one in his hip again. Ikol unfortunately swung out fast as I was trying to reposition, slugging me with a paw. My bones were popping way too much for my liking as I grit my teeth through the pain. Can’t slow down, Ikol needs more needles in him. I plunged two more needles into him as he tried pulling out the previous one. Not a chance I was giving him room to breathe. I coated my teeth with the , biting him. Ikol yowled, before wrapping his arms around me. Uh oh. I coated my claws, stabbing them the best I could into his sides as Ikol arched his back to slam me into the ground. Several things cracked as my head was ringing. Ikol pivoted as his grip was like iron, swinging my body like a sword to slam it into the ground. I used to dissipate, appearing behind Ikol, plunging a needle between his shoulder blades. Pull that one out. Ikol bucked his back legs, slamming them into me. All the wind was taken out of me as I collapsed onto the ground; I wanted to stand but that was not happening. I was trying to heal up, keeping my eyes on Ikol. Ikol looked like he was in agony, but steadily walked over to me, raising his back leg to stomp my skull.

“I concede.” I stated as I was in no shape to keep going. Ikol did a little victory dance. Just you wait.

“That is enough for now you two. Ikol, you can come with us to my cave.” Hoggdin stated as Ipnerslei and Orga helped us heal really quick.

“Really?” Ikol checked, sounding really happy.

“Do not make me regret it.” Hoggdin replied. Ikol was dancing like we hadn’t just finished fighting. How does he heal so fast?