"Well that stings", gasped Roy as he sat with his back to the brick alley wall. He looked down at his leg and the gaping hole currently providing a perfect view of the dusty cement ground underneath him. In his right hand was a bastard sword with a gold hilt and silver blade.

A deep voice asked, "What happened to the silent swordsman that feels no pain?" "Did I say it hurt? It just tingles a bit. In fact, I like the sensation" Roy retorted. "I suggest you finish fighting and admire 'the sensation' when there isn't a spear trained on your head." Roy rolled to the right just as a spear entered the space his head had occupied moments prior.

His opponent wore a black trench coat and hat that hide his identity. Roy attemped to get up, but his right leg refused to move. He managed to tilt and get up on his good leg just as the masked attacker let loose another strike. He blocked the strike, but fell on his butt with his back to the alley corner.

From the attacker, a masculine voice stated, "You have no where to run. I wont miss again." The voice in Roy's head mocked him saying, "He sounds serious. I would suggest fighting back instead of sitting down." "Great advice", Roy responded before sticking his left hand in front of the impending spear. It pierced halfway through his hand on course for his left eye before being redirected into the wall inches from Roy's head.

The attacker looked shocked for a moment before a silver blade pierced his heart. The attacker fell back and the spear clattered to the ground. Roy breathed heavily against the brick wall as he waited to catch his breath. "That was rather pitiful. I expect more from my wielder. At best that was a four out of ten."

Roy responded, "Lucifer, I was walking home and had groceries in one hand. He impaled me from behind and threw me into an alley. It's incredible I even had time to grab you while hurtling through the air." "You should have been paying more attention to our surroundings. If you had taken on the next level already, I would have sensed him coming. You would not even need to grab me since I would be able shift into your hand."

"I told you I'm not ready yet. The main thing this encounter has taught me is that I either need to dye my hair and get a fake mustache or start leaving only at night again. Two weeks of nothing and I get attacked out of no where." "I suppose being the defender of a city comes with some risk after all", Lucifer responded. Roy staggered to his feet and picked up the spear laying on the ground.

He then limped over to where the bass case he used to hide Lucifer sat in the alley. He slipped the sword and spear into the hole in the bottom of the case and lifted the case over his shoulder. The groceries were mostly intact with some of the fruit bruised, but the majority still in the bag. The pain in his leg and hand had already subsided as he exited the alley and began walking back to his apartment.

No one seemed to notice the holes in his clothing or his body. "I guess I should move soon if we've already been found," Roy mused. "I doubt it. The attacker would have been more effective surprising you at home. I imagine he saw you and attacked immediately. You're likely safe for the time being. I would wait the standard three weeks before moving again."

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Within ten minutes, Roy stood before two sliding doors and traveled up the stairs to his one bedroom apartment. The room was sparse with a few training dummies, foam mats, a bed in the corner and a small kitchen. Roy placed the groceries on the kitchen counter and slipped the bass case onto the ground. His hand and leg were fully healed with the only remnant of the fight being the whole in his shorts.

He turned to the mats and began stretching. Next, he started doing push ups on the ground. After a minute he shifted to the plank and switching to a new exercise every following minute. In half an hour, he was covered in sweat. Roy walked over to the bass case and grabbed his sword to begin the real exercises.

He immediately heard Lucifer's voice saying, "I think it's obvious we need to work on your reflexes. First, grab a blindfold. I'm going to name a part of the body and I want you to hit it as quickly as possible. I'll tell you if the strike is sloppy or if you are too slow. Let's begin." Commands began coming rapidly and Roy struggled at first to maximize his speed and aim on a nearby preactice dummy.

As he tried to go faster, he only made more mistakes. Time flowed by as his aim and reaction speed were honed. Three hours later, Roy was still standing and producing on target hits, but every strike was light. "Enough," Lucifer stated," Go eat and rest." Roy left the sword and hobbled over to the groceries to grab an apple. He munched on it as he jumped into bed and reached for his phone under the pillow.

"At least James and the guys had an easy day. He says no one skipped school and they even got a few tips," Roy stated out loud knowing Lucifer would hear him. The blade was capable of any of the five senses except sight when stuck in the bass case. The only limitation to their conversation being skin contact providing Lucifer with a way to respond.

Roy laid his phone back down on the bed and went back to the counter to grab a bag of beef jerky. He finished the bag and grabbed Lucifer before siting on the bed. "It's 9:00 P.M. now. What time do you think we should go out tonight?" Roy asked.

"Wait until 11:00 P.M. You need more darkness and I imagine there might be a few more visitors in town trying to greet you like our friend from earlier. Eventually they are going to send someone actually dangerous and we don't need bystanders or new stations on scene until the fight is over. With your luck, tonight could be the night we finally get a challenging fight."

"I already told you, I don't plan on taking on another vice any time soon. If someone I can't beat shows up, we're going to run. I barely handled accepting pride and you know I can't take on any of the other six right now." "You did not get this far by running from your problems. More powerful vices keep appearing. We might even have to deal with a virtue if you keep gaining notoriety. You will have to accept another if you want this journey to continue."

"I understand my situation but I won't make a decision I will regret in the future. I still need to decide and I won't be deciding today. For now, can you tell me a story?" "What do you want to learn about?" Lucifer asked. "Do you have any stories from Persia?" "I never experienced battle in Persia, but I do have direct accounts of Alexander the Great."

"That sounds perfect," Alex responded as he grabbed a dumb bell in one hand and kept his other on the hilt of the blade recounting tales of old.