Calm Wanderer
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(AKJ)Chapter 53 - First spar as cultivators
🕑 Added 2024-03-21 17:03:02 +0000 UTCDamovotsk, Molkovia, Earth.
Demian's P.O.V.
A few minutes later, the four Mikhailovs were on their way to the South of the city, where Petrovich’s house was located. The Southern side of the city was mostly made of different residential areas, the houses and apartments increasing in price and age as the distance from the City Center decreased.
As the head of the city’s hospital, the man was relatively wealthy and thus could afford to pay for accommodation in the City’s inner ring. Of course, his net worth was far lower than the Mikhailovs. However, the latter was a relatively old family who developed themselves in Damovotsk for a few generations, while the party’s goon was only a ‘nouveau riche’, making the comparison between the two unfair.
In any case, with how much trouble he brought the family, it was clear to Demian that influence was more important than money in this world. ‘Influence and physical power. After all, with my current strength, it would be quite easy to get more money, although most options would be illegal.’ He pondered as his gaze was directed toward the road in front of him, while his mind did not completely register the buildings and people he drove past. In fact, only a part of his mind was focused on following the burgundy-colored SUV in front of him. It was just enough to avoid provoking an accident.
The muscle car’s interior was silent, despite Seraphine being seated beside him, while his oldest cousin and Aunt both rode in the vehicle in front, leading them to the place the hulking redhead mentioned earlier. Their target was located in the Southwest of the city, only a few short minutes away from Petrovich’s house, and that was pretty much the only information Bryn was willing to share about the place.
His great curiosity was fortunately quickly sated as, a few minutes later, the group arrived at their destination, parking their car in a parking lot close to their objective. Exiting their respective vehicles, the other three followed Bryn’s lead toward the seemingly unused building in front of them, not paying too much attention to the few curious gazes thrown their way. With their hoodies hiding much of the two cultivators’ bodies, the stares were not too insistent, instead moving away quickly to deal with their own lives.
Letting out a discreet relieved sigh, Demian remarked. “I’m glad we thought about bringing the hoodies!” His words attracted Bryn’s gaze who replied, slightly helpless. “I really hope that we won’t have to hide ourselves all our lives, though.” Shaking her head, Adeliya retorted. “I don’t think you guys will. After all, the two of you’re probably not the only ones whose bodies changed when they broke through to the Chi Gathering Rank.”
Her words assuaged his concerns slightly, however, they would only disappear completely when he was able to meet other cultivators. In any case, that was something for future Demian. At this moment, he would rather first focus on training, and only then on getting rid of that asshole threatening his family. After that? That was something for later.
Shoving those thoughts aside, he asked Bryn. “Big Sis, what’s this place? You can tell us now, right?” His questions brought the woman’s attention to their location. With a small grin on her face, she started explaining. “We’re in an old high school that’s been bought by some company. It should have been demolished a long time ago to construct some new office buildings, but, because the business filed for bankruptcy, it never got done and is now stuck in administrative limbo.”
Halting her words for a second to let her explanation sink in, she then continued. “Since the whole thing is supposed to be destroyed, they’re not too concerned about people messing up the place. The sound insulation is also not too bad. At least, enough to be used as a sparring ‘arena’.” Nodding his head, Demian replied. “That’s good because I really need to get used to my new strength or I might end up breaking something important.”
At his statement, Seraphine asked, curious. “Did you...?” Feeling embarrassed, the young man retorted. “Right. I broke a glass earlier at home. I didn’t break the second one, though. Still...” Following his claim, Adeliya grabbed his hands before examining them and asked rhetorically. “You’re not hurt?” To which he replied, his tone laced with delight. “That’s how I found out how resistant my skin became. The glass left absolutely no mark on it. I even tried to cut my palm with a shard, but it didn’t go through at all.”
Narrowing her eyes, she hit his shoulder gently while commenting in an exasperated tone. “Are you stupid or something?! I know you heal fast, but you can’t be reckless like that.” Scratching his bearded chin, a random thought came to him. ‘I really need to shave my beard once I’m sure I won’t break my razor.’ Before explaining himself out loud. “I feel like it’s better to check that stuff in a controlled environment than doing it in the middle of a dangerous situation.”
His claim made her stare at his face for a few moments, seemingly searching for something before lowering her gaze, rubbing her eyes gently, and letting out a helpless sigh. A moment later, she retorted. “Just... Just tell me when you want to try something like that. I’d rather be there if you need some patching up.” Her words brought an amused smile to the blue-eyed man. “I will. Thanks for worrying about me, by the way.”
Shaking her head, she changed the subject, although the small grin she sported betrayed what she really felt. “Let’s not waste too much time. You two better start your training instead of wasting time chatting.” Following her words, the group followed Bryn to the rundown gymnasium. Besides the wall, the place was both dirty and broken. However, the four did not care, as the only thing the two cultivators needed was an empty area big enough for them to fight, while the other two girls practiced the basic technique. With their growing cultivation base, even if the floor had some small holes here and there, it would not matter that much.
Noticing a small but relatively clean corner, Demian walked there and after removing his shirt, hoodie, and shoes, he laid them neatly on the floor before noting the slight surprise in Adeliya’s and Bryn’s gazes. Understanding the unasked question, he explained. “With how much our strength increased, and how brutal Big Sis can be, I’m pretty sure that my shirt would end up as scraps at the end of the day. So I’d rather take them off. See, how eco-friendly I am?”
The three women giggled at his explanation before the giant redhead imitated him, leaving only her sports bra on her shredded upper body. She also removed her pair of pants, leaving only a pair of shorts, before placing her shoes beside his. The two then walked a bit further to avoid damaging their clothes or hurting the two weaker redheads. Taking their usual stance, the two fighters’ faces turned hyper-focused. After a few tense moments, the two simultaneously dashed toward each other at a speed impossible to catch for a normal human eye.
As the two reached close enough to attack, Bryn started with a right kick, so heavy that the young man had the skin on his left flank tingle before her leg even hit him. ‘Fuck! I forgot about the difference in reach!’ He thought as he automatically placed his left arm in a defensive position while moving forward enough to diminish the impact on his arm.
Thankfully, her speed seemed slightly inferior to his own, granting him enough time to brace for impact. As soon as her shin hit his arm, however, he instantly realized that her speed may be lower than his but her strength was much higher. Despite not being thrown away from the collision, he could feel the bones in his left upper limb cracking slightly, while his ribs pressed on his lungs, cutting his breathing for a few moments.
Fortunately, the lack of breathing did not impact him as much as before his breakthrough, and since staying still would only bring him more pain from her following attacks, his body started moving automatically. His aching left arm swiftly grabbed her thick thigh, in a bid to restrain her in an awkward position and give him ample time to retaliate. Or, at least, that was the plan.
Unfortunately, he forgot to take into account one important fact that he previously learned when she kicked him: The muscular redhead was obviously physically stronger than him. He quickly recalled that particular piece of information from her following reaction, however. Indeed, her muscles instantly tightened, making him lose his balance slightly, lowering the power of the right kick he aimed at her unprotected left thigh. The white mark left on her body told him that he created some damage, but it was too light.
He thus made a lightning decision. He instantly let her right leg go and firmly planted his right foot on the ground before throwing a left aimed at her sternum while keeping his right arm in a protective position. What annoyed him slightly, however, was the fact that her size not only gave her a longer reach but also made it harder for him to hit her, forcing him to slightly overextend himself in order to reach her upper body. That led to a decrease in damage, widening the already existing difference in their respective ‘firepower’. The fact that the previous white mark on her left thigh disappeared almost instantly did not increase his confidence either.
‘So, she’s stronger and more resistant. Although, the latter is debatable. After all, the difference in power may be the reason behind it.’ He briefly reviewed the information he collected so far as his left fist collided with her sternum. The hit was somewhat mitigated by her sizable breasts, however, with the shockwave disappearing quickly after briefly and visibly propagating along a small part of her bust.
Unlike what he was used to with Seraphine, Bryn’s two fleshy mounds quickly turned as hard as rocks after his knuckles pushed slightly deeper than her skin surface, prompting him to inwardly note. ‘So, her body’s structure changed, with the previous ‘weak parts’ becoming more resistant. Although, they’re probably still weaker than other ‘hard’ body parts.’ The last conclusion came from her immediate reaction to the hit. She had an expression of pain briefly appearing on her face before vanishing instantly, leaving only intense focus.
At that point, the giant redhead had her right leg back on the ground, and, anticipating her following counter-attack, he started moving his left arm to protect his head. However, her attack was not aimed at his face. Instead, his abdominal muscles greeted the woman’s right fist, making him almost puke from the shock coursing through his stomach.
Clenching his teeth to withstand the pain rattling his body, Demian skillfully moved his body to his opponent’s right side, following along her extended right arm, he positioned himself perfectly and threw a left hook to her right ribs, stunning the woman for a brief moment and making the two somewhat even in terms of physical damage.
The two incredibly strong fighters then proceeded to use everything they had in terms of tactics, besides attacking each other’s private parts. After all, it was not a fight to the death, and their ‘normal’ attacks were sufficiently powerful for them to ‘play’ with. Those punches and kicks, in Demian’s opinion, would easily turn a normal human’s body into mush. Even High Body Strengthening would surely die instantly. The extent of the damage those fighters would bear was still unknown to him, however.
As the day slowly passed, the two had to take a break from time to time, despite their ridiculously high stamina. The reason being mostly to let their body heal the damage it incurred. That gave the group a way to study the difference in their previous and current healing rate. The result amazed the group, as the speed of Bryn’s recovery reached the superhuman level, with Demian’s going beyond even hers, reaching a ridiculous level.
From his body’s reaction, and their educated guess, they concluded that he would recover from any normal flesh injury in at most minutes. However, they did not experiment too much, so the result had to be taken with a pinch of salt and those lethal injuries for normal humans may take longer to heal than what they predicted. Not that they would want to test it in real life, so they would just assume those wounds would similarly kill the two cultivators and thus had to be avoided at all costs.
After a day of sparring and experimentation, the sun finally disappeared behind the horizon, followed by the City’s nightly persona waking up, with all that it implied. Noticing the change in lighting, the two fighters separated with Bryn holding out her hands and declaring. “We should... Stop...” Her breath was slightly hurried, although nothing like the spars they had before her breakthrough. As for Demian, only a brief moment was needed for him to regulate his breathing, and unlike the woman in front of him, not only did he feel no exhaustion, but instead felt a slight improvement in his strength compared to the morning.
‘My perk is awesome!’ He thought as he started unconsciously stretching before replying. “Sure. Let’s cultivate to get our bodies back to their peak state. After that, we can start the operation, if you’re fine with it.” Nodding her head, she swiftly sat cross-legged on the floor, closed her eyes, and then proceeded to absorb the spiritual energy floating gently around her.
The satisfied expression on her face brought a warm smile to his face as he inwardly remarked. ‘She’s a real battle junkie, isn’t she? Kettle calling the pot black?’ Chuckling discreetly, he turned his gaze toward the other two women still practicing on the side. Unlike the two Chi Gathering cultivators, the two seemed physically exhausted, especially Adeliya whose partially healed hip injury hindered her movement and probably drained her energy even faster.
‘She seems better than before she reached the Fourth Level Body Strengthening, though. Hopefully, as long as her cultivation base increases enough, she’ll get completely healed up...’ He thought while using his Divine Sense to feel the state of the two redheads’ bodies, noting his petite lover’s current cultivation base. ‘Fifth Level... If I’m not wrong, her cultivation speed should increase with my recent breakthrough... We’ll see how it goes...’
Feeling satisfied with everyone’s progress, the young man mirrored his oldest cousin’s action and started cultivating after a last thought briefly traversed his mind. ‘We’re getting closer and closer...’
