1 December Year 2367

Telfer entered his sea of consciousness once more. Agvak was still sitting on the couch but this time, this time an incomplete glyph was in front of him.

"Why are you here? I said first 2 levels right?"

Agvak frowned as he looked up from the couch. Telfer ignored him and stared at the glyph curiously. He stretched his hand out to touch it.

"DON'T TOUCH IT! IT"S INCOMPLETE!"

Agvak screamed frantically and the glyph seemed to move magically away from Telfer. Agvak rubbed his forehead in relief and glared at Telfer.

"The minute you touch this glyph, you will simply be squished into a lump of ghoul cells. Whatever you do, do not touch it you useless discple. Get out and continue your training."

Agvak waved his hand at Telfer in an attempt to get Telfer to leave. Telfer gestured with open palms and shrugged his shoulders. Agvak slapped his forehead and glared at him.

"Fine, as your Master, I will teach you, you useless disciple. If you want to leave, you can leave by just thinking about it. And by the way, don't come back until you reach the second stage of Poison Body."

Leave?

Telfer's vision faded to black and he found himself back in his room. A note was lying on the table. Telfer opened it and a hologram of Daimon popped out. Telfer put the note down in a hurry and stared at the hologram in shock.

"Your first session of training has ended. Once you see this, report to the same room again."

Daimon waved at Telfer and disappeared in a fizz. Telfer opened the note again and the hologram popped out again. The same message played over and over.

This is pretty funny. Time to go out.

Telfer headed towards the same room again. However, when he stepped into the room, his master was not standing in the ring but sitting on a wooden chair. There was another chair opposite him. Telfer took his seat in a hurry and wondered what was happening.

"How should I put this? From now on, I will pound Agvak's greatest defense technique into you. It only requires alot of hard work. Once you master it, it will grow with you. That's why we are starting now.The thing is, you will fight continuously without end. You will not rest until I tell you to. You will either die or come out successful. If you are fine, put these on and we will start now."

Daimon held out a pair of wrist shackles and stared at Telfer solemnly.

Telfer gritted his teeth and put on the shackles. Even his own master had described it as the greatest defense technique. There was no way he was giving up on this opportunity. Telfer's hands immediately sunk to the ground.

How heavy are they?

"Oh they weigh 40kg combined."

Daimon walked over to a wall and flicked a switch. His tone was colder than ever before. Telfer's entire body started sinking into the ground.

A gravity room?

"You will sparring against me. My blows will be 0.1% of my power from now. We will only stop when you are able to touch me."

Daimon cracked his neck and disappeared.

That's ten times harder than last time!

Telfer raised his arms but found that the wrist shackles prevented him from doing anything with his upper body. Daimon appeared in front of Telfer and raised his arm above Telfer's head.

*WHAM*

Telfer was sent head first into the ground. A crater formed from the impact.

"Get up. It's called the greatest defense technique for a reason."

Daimon pulled Telfer out of the crater and kicked him upwards. Telfer spat out a mouthful blood and fell back onto the ground. The attacks did not stop coming. Telfer's body was punched and kicked countless times. Everytime a hole or wound in his body closed up, a fresh wound opened up again. Telfer knelt down the ground, gasping for air. The flurry of blows was too extreme. Daimon looked on emotionessly and threw out another punch.

Mass Transfer.

Telfer jumped above Daimon and aimed his foot at him.

"That's poor."

Daimon flashed behind Telfer and struck him heavily with his foot. Another chain of attacks landed on Telfer. Telfer stood up again and stared at Daimon. His body was bleeding heavily as his regeneration could not keep up with the rain of attacks. Daimon disappeared before Telfer's eyes once more. This time, a knee bashed straight into Telfer and Telfer's vision started to black out as he fell to the ground.

"We aren't done yet."

Daimon picked up Telfer and threw another punch into his gut. The darkness in Telfer's vision cleared as a fist flew towards his fist. No matter how Telfer tried to move his body, his body would not listen to him. It was simply limp. Telfer crashed into the ground once more.

"Can't move anymore? I will let you take a break then."

Daimon dragged Telfer by his collar and threw him into the bath.

Shit. I was simply shut down in 3 bouts. It wasn't even a struggle.

Telfer ignored the pain that assaulted his body and checked his status window.

Status Window Name: Telfer Berkley Age: 12 Race: Ghoul Gender: Male Stats Health: 20/120 (50/50) Heath regen.: 10.1/min (20/min) Energy: 0/70 (100/100) Energy Regen.: 3.2/min (8/ min) Mana: 40/40 (40/40) Mana Regen.: 2/min Strength: 6.5 (8) Agility: 7 (10) Dexterity: 6.5 (8) Stamina: 8 (10) Intelligence: 8 (5) Wisdom: 8 (4) Skills

Ghoul:

Mass Transfer

Magic Spells:

Poison Hand (Poison Magic)

Cloak (Illusion Magic)

Self created skills:

Yama's Strike

Telfer was hovering between life and death at this point. His body was completely devoid of energy, explaining his inability to control his body. Telfer closed his eyes and tried to get some rest. The poison in the bath was like ants biting him without end and he couldn't get any sleep.

"Wake up. We are starting."

Telfer swore it had been barely 10 minutes. Daimon plucked Telfer out of the bath and threw a kick at his face.

"You didn't think it would be this easy did you?"

Daimon paused before attacking again. Telfer was thrown about the room once more. When he couldn't move his body, Telfer was thrown into the bath for a short while before sparring again. There were no meals in between. After what seemed like an eternity, Daimon tossed Telfer into the bath once more.

"The 1st day is over. We will keep going until you have found the technique."

Daimon walked out of the room and locked the door behind him.

Find the technique? I'm supposed to develop it such that I can defend the blow and attack back in response? The shackles and the gravity room must mean something...

Telfer dozed off in the bath. However, the pain kept waking him up over and over again when he fell asleep. Meanwhile, Telfer's body was undergoing some changes. A black liquid oozed out of his pores while his skin started to have a green glow.

Day 2- 2 December Year 2367

Daimon opened the door to the bath and foul air wafted out immediately. He pinched his nose and fished Telfer out.

"Wake up, the second day starts now."

Cracks appeared across the black layer on top of Telfer. As they fell away, Telfer's skin radiated a green glow with no sign of the intense sparring yesterday. The only sign was the dark circles underneath a pair of blood-shot eyes. Telfer stood still and glared at Daimon.

"Looks like the impurities were finally forced out. You have finally made some noticeable improvements in Poison Body as well. We will be going at the same intensity."

Daimon flicked the switch once more and Telfer was sinking into the ground once more. However, he kept staring at Daimon to prepare for any sudden movements. Daimon disappeared once more and a punch materialized in front of Telfer.

Cloak.

Telfer's body disappeared but the punch still landed on his face. As Telfer pulled himself out of the crater, Daimon shook his head.

"Not what I was looking for. First, your Cloak was too slow. Second, I can sense the electrical signals within your body even with Cloak on."

Daimon leapt at Telfer and a knee shot towards his jaw. Telfer activated Mass Transfer and stepped to the side but the knee followed as well and bashed his face in.

"Not that as well. The greatest defensive technique isn't so easy."

Telfer shot towards Daimon and winded up his fist. Daimon flickered behind Telfer and dragged him back by the collar before throwing him against the wall. Daimon rained blow after blow onto Telfer. What followed was essentially a repeat of day 1. Day 2 ended with Telfer being thrown into the bath once more.

Something that doesn't involve magic and movement of my limbs...

Telfer pondered while resting his exhausted body.

Day 3- 3 December Year 2367

Telfer stood in front of his master once more. He stared at Daimon's feet conitnuously. Daimon stood still and laughed at Telfer's motions.

"Nothing is going to happen."

Telfer looked up and blinked in shock from Daimon's laugh. Within the next second, Telfer was slammed by the knee.

"I... found ...it."

Telfer panted and grinned while standing up. He activated Mass Transfer and shot towards Daimon. A fist moved towards Daimon's chin.

"This is boring."

Daimon smirked and slammed his fist towards Telfer's head. Suddenly, Telfer's entire body dipped below Daimon, causing Daimon's attack to miss.

"A feint? Not bad."

Daimon grabbed a leg that was heading towards his waist and pulled Telfer up before tossing him backwards. Telfer landed comfortably on his feet and grinned.

"Blinking. That's it."

Daimon looked at Telfer puzzledly before clutching his stomach. Tears of joy seemed to stream down his face while laughing.

"You managed to figure out Blink after sparring me for 2 whole days. Correct, the Daimon Style's approach is the fastest of them all. The second the opponent blinks, you are already in front of them. Combined with the Storm Spirit's inherent speed, it becomes the fastest approach. But I said DEFENSIVE technique."

Telfer continued with his silly grin and took a stance. He ignored his master's laughter and waited for it.

There!

Telfer activated Mass Transfer and shot towards Daimon. Telfer licked his lips as he anticipated the feeling of his fist hitting flesh. Suddenly, Daimon grinned and punched out at Telfer while his eyes were closed. Telfer crashed heavily into the ground.

"You aren't the only person who can feint."

Daimon pulled Telfer out of the ground and unleashed a flurry of attacks on him. However, Daimon suddenly Telfer's body suddenly started morphing while taking the hits. Although it was very slight, Daimon spotted the different parts of Telfer's body change in shape and harden to receive the blow from Daimon's attack.

Daimon paused his attacks, allowing Telfer to crumple onto the ground.

"Your body has found the technique but you yourself have not."

The technique is innate?

Telfer struggled to stand up as he wondered. Daimon started another combo on Telfer's body.

Keep my eyes open. Look at my body.

Telfer clenched his teeth and forced himself to keep his eyes open. He could feel his senses screaming aloud right now. Suddenly, everything around him turned black and white. The flurry of attacks looked extremely slow. He could see every fist and kick that was striking him. His own body seemed to be rippling. As Daimon's fist landed on his arm, a small smount of ghoul cells seemed to move to the spot. The area around the fist seemed to grow outwards and harden with a silvery glow. As the fist fell away, the outward growth fell away.

Is this it?

A foot was moving towards his torso right now.

Go there.

Telfer willed the ghoul cells to move towards the area. Telfer's torso started growing and hardening as well. As the kick landed on his torso, Telfer felt a sharp pain. Although it still stung like hell, it wasn't so bad to force him onto the ground.

I FOUND IT. I FUCKING FOUND IT.

The world seemed to speed up all of a sudden as numerous blows rained down on Telfer. Telfer smirked as wounds appeared all over his body. Telfer stood up again in a hurry and took a stance. Daimon disappeared once more and a hand chopped down towards his neck.

"ARGHHHHH!"

Telfer commanded his cells and a growth appeared on his neck. Shock appeared in Daimon's eyes as Telfer grabbed his arm and swung Yama's Strike at him. Daimon grasped onto Telfer's left arm and pushed him backwards, causing him to sit down on the floor. Daimon clapped his hands and smiled.

"Congratulations, looks like you have found Immortal Guard. You can now remove the shackles and take a break. Don't worry, the intensity will increase from here."

Telfer was flung into the bath once more. Telfer ignored the pain and smiled as he played around with the new technique. It seemed like Immortal Guard on the other hand relied on fine control of cells. Telfer fell asleep within the bath. A white space entered his vision. He had unwittingly entered the sea of consciousness once more. Agvak was currently mumbling while sitting within the incomplete glyph.

"I said to come back after reaching the 2nd level. Why can't you just listen?"

Agvak looked at Telfer in annoyance. He raised his fist as if he was threatening Telfer to leave. Suddenly, Agvak dropped the fist and jumped over to Telfer.

"Oh wow, 1st level of Poison Body and Immortal Guard. Looks like my successor isn't that useless. So Daimon used this method to teach you? I didn't think he would use it when I told him. As my successor, I will let you know a little more about Immortal Guard. Immortal Guard is a technique that connects the reflex and voluntary actions. The sparring sessions you had made it a relfex action. Daimon just pushed you a little more to connect the voluntary action to the reflex action. Right now, you should hone your spatial awareness so that you can accurately gauge which part to harden. It will be even better if you can fine tune your cell control. Now get out."

Agvak shooed Telfer away in a hurry and continued to mumble while scratching the glyph.

Spatial awareness and cell control huh?

Telfer woke up in the bath and rubbed his chin. The door to the bath opened and Daimon brought Telfer out of the bath. Azur was already sitting on the floor. Daimon set Telfer down beside Azur and a hologram displaying the Demon Kingdom appeared above his hands.

"Before we continue, I think it would be better for you to have a bigger picture what I want you to grow towards and the things that are happening in future. The first thing is the City Martial Competition, which will be followed by the Kingdom Martial Competition. Your objective right now is to train your hardest to prepare for the City Martial Competition."