The Heavenly Demon circled around Cipher, observing him carefully. She reached out, pressing her fingers against his arm, then his shoulder, testing his muscle density.
Her eyes widened slightly.
"Your strength..." she murmured, pressing harder. "It increased significantly. Just like that?"
She moved her hand to his core, then his legs, inspecting each part. The jump in physical capability was undeniable - measurable, even. What should have taken weeks of training had happened in an instant.
"Fascinating," she said, stepping back.
"Do I meet the requirements now?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Not yet."
His face fell slightly.
"But," she continued, "this is proof of concept. If you can strengthen yourself like this every day, you can keep learning the technique. As you master more and more of it, it will require higher and higher levels of strength and tolerance. This should solve the problem."
"Can you do this every day?"
He nodded. "I just need to kill three monsters like the one I just killed."
"That's convenient," she thought.
"That's easy enough," she acknowledged. "But you will have to kill three higher-level ones to create pressure for practicing the techniques I'm teaching you."
He nodded. D-rank wasn't that strong. He was sure he could handle it.
"At the same time," she added.
His expression froze.
"Three D-ranks at the same time?" he asked.
"That's right," she said. "The Heavenly Demonic Sword Art is a technique born from extreme violence."
"It's said that the Demon God who lived in the deepest pits of hell had extreme hatred against the heavens who had banished him there. Despite being in the deepest pits of hell, the Demon God still managed to fight his way through the Netherworld, to the Human World, and to the Heavens, splitting them apart."
She paused. "Or so I've heard."
"Although I don't necessarily believe the story, fighting life-and-death battles against superior opponents is the only way to properly learn the sword art. Fighting against opponents you can handle won't help you."
He listened to her and nodded. If that was the way to get stronger, then he wouldn't mind.
"Alright," he said.
She smiled. "Alright, let's begin your training."
…
Later that day,
Cipher lunged forward, he didn't use his dagger anymore but rather a sword he had received from the Heavenly Demon. Although it was a fundamentally different weapon from the dagger he used before, it didn't feel unnatural in his arms.
This was mostly because he had no real experience in either weapon so switching didn't really make him uncomfortable.
He swung his sword toward the Heavenly Demon's shoulder.
She sidestepped effortlessly, not even looking at him. "Your stance is too wide. You're losing power in the transition."
He adjusted and struck again, this time aiming for her midsection.
She deflected his blade with a single finger. "Better. But your body is too forward. You're unconsciously telegraphing your movements. I can see your attack before you even think of it. Take control of your body's micromovements more."
Cipher gritted his teeth and attacked again, faster this time, combining multiple strikes in rapid succession.
The Heavenly Demon weaved through each one without moving her feet, her expression bored. "You're still too predictable. Break the pattern. Make me guess."
He tried a feint, then came in low.
She caught his sword between two fingers mid-swing, stopping it completely.
"It's getting late," she said. "I've already captured three monsters for you to face."
"Right now?" he asked in surprise. "Shouldn't I rest first?"
She looked at him as if he had said the most stupid thing.
"Why would I let you rest when we worked so hard to bring down your stamina?" she asked.
"Anyway, the demons are about to begin invading again, so I'll go handle it. You have fun," she said as she disappeared before he could say anything.
"Wait!" he shouted, but no one responded.
At that moment, he heard a growl from behind him. He turned around and saw three monsters moving toward him.
He wondered if the Heavenly Demon had really left. Did that mean she wouldn't save him if he made a mistake? And he was already tired too.
His face hardened in determination. This was the kind of training the Heavenly Demon went through to be so strong. He wouldn't back down.
He held his sword steady as they moved toward him.
…
Cipher and the monsters' eyes met.
He kept his gaze on them, his sword steady, making sure not to show any weakness.
One continued walking toward him while the other two split, going to each of his flanks.
Currently, his base damage was 120. With Aura, it was 480. And if he added an Assassinate on top, it would be 1,440.
These monsters before him had about 2,000 HP each. He could see this thanks to his Appraisal. He could also see that they had some defensive skills, so in reality, it was more like 3,000.
Currently, with his 150 mana, he could use one Aura and overlay two Assassinates on that single Aura charge. This would leave him with 60 mana - enough for just a single Aura charge or two Assassinates.
But using this remaining mana on Assassinates would be a waste. A single Assassinate hit gave him 360 damage instead of the 480 Aura gave. And it was a single hit too.
In Aura state, he should be able to land continuous 480 damage multiple times over the thirty-second duration, which was definitely better - not only cheaper than the two Assassinates, but also gave more freedom as it could also be used for defense.
As the three monsters surrounded him, he finalized his strategy.
He would gauge the waters with his normal base damage attacks while trying his best to dodge theirs. But he shouldn't do this for long - he was lacking in the stamina area.
After he had gauged the monsters properly and saw an opportunity, he would take it. Activate Aura, target a single monster, hit it with Assassinate, then hit it continuously with normal Aura attacks while dodging the others, ensuring he dealt maximum damage to this one before Assassinate's cooldown ended and he finished it off.
After that, he would put the two gained points instantly into Stamina. With more stamina, he wouldn't use Assassinate anymore and would activate Aura and face the others head-on.