Chapter 45: [45]Be Prepared To Fight

--Chapter 45--

Title: Be Prepared To Fight

Being called boy, sparked a different fire in his chest. Takeshi didn’t hesitate this time. Even as Nyxara came forward, His feet moved first and he met her mid way.

He stepped into her range, reinforced his legs and torso, and threw the punch with everything he had learned so far.

Nyxara blocked with her open palm. The impact cracked through the room.

Her arm was driven back several inches. But Takeshi’s shoulder immediately complained from the force of the collision, but he kept his footing.

Nyxara looked at her palm in surprise and then she looked at him. A slow, pleased smile spread across her face.

"I’ll let you spank later."

Takeshi breathed heavily from the recoil and strain. But Nyxara wasn’t done yet. She lowered her arm.

"Now do it again."

And almost like he was hypnotized, Takeshi raised his guard again. This time Nyxara attacked first.

Takeshi moved in synchrony with her.

Her fist came toward his ribs. He shifted his torso, reinforced the area, and let the blow glance across him instead of taking it directly.

He answered with a quick jab to her side but Nyxara blocked easily. Swiftly, he changed the angle and went for a hook. But the demoness blocked again.

With no quits to his name, Takeshi stepped outside her lead foot and tried to drive another punch into her side.

Nyxara twisted away, evading momentarily but He followed.

For the first time, he wasn’t simply reacting to whatever she did. He was trying to make her react to him.

Nyxara completely found that intriguing. This was exactly why she didn’t mind his presence.

Because he knew what he wanted and went for it even when faced against someone like her.

"That’s it," she suddenly barked in excitement.

And as a resting her speed increased as if she took her pinky off the brakes of her full power.

At this point, Takeshi could barely kept up.

The next exchange became a blur of movement.

He blocked one strike with his forearm, slipped another, and took a third against his shoulder. The mana reinforcement absorbed most of it, but his body still rocked from the impact.

He refused to retreat. Even as the demoness exswung again.

Takeshi ducked and her fist passed over his head. He stepped inside her guard and drove his fist toward her stomach.

Nyxara caught his wrist midway in a vice grip. She rotated the cuffs slightly causing Takeshi’s eyes to twitch.

For a moment, they were locked together. Even as Nyxara leaned closer.

"You’re getting dangerous."

Takeshi looked at her. "And your crazy ass is smiling."

"Because you’re finally giving me something worth teaching."

She released his wrist and shoved him back. Takeshi caught his balance on time.

Nyxara rolled her shoulders. "Now we’re getting somewhere," she raised both hands.

The heat around her arms became more noticeable. Takeshi’s Minor Mana Sense caught it this time.

The rough pressure around her body was no longer just warmth. It had become dense and aggressive Mana.

He swallowed nervously. He never signed up for this but he wanted to see.

Nyxara noticed the minor resignation in his eyes. "What’s wrong?"

"Nothing," Takeshi snapped.

With his answer came the emergence of a predatory smile.

"Prepare! we’re done playing with basic reinforcement."

Takeshi’s eyes narrowed as beads of sweat sprung on his forehead even as Nyxara’s fists began to glow.

A tight layer of crimson heat wrapped around her hands. It wasn’t anything too threatening.

It was just enough for the air to immediately become hotter.

Solaria straightened near the wall. Lana’s expression remained calm, but her attention sharpened.

Nyxara looked at Takeshi.

"Let’s see if all that pretty control of yours survives when getting hit actually hurts."

Takeshi frowned. His arms, shoulders and midsection were aching like crazy. So what in God’s green earth did she mean by "actually hurts."

He was already hurting...

Raising his hands. Takeshi slowed his breathing as he gathered mana through his arms and torso.

"Brace yourself, Hot stuff," she purred and closed the already short distance between them as the stone floors shook.

The first strike came faster than Takeshi expected.Nyxara’s fist crossed the space between them wrapped in a thin layer of crimson hellfire.

Takeshi raised both arms and reinforced them with mana. The impact was hell...

Heat spread through his forearms as the blow pushed him backward across the floor. Sliding across the floor before he finally caught himself.

He barely blinked before he realized Nyxara was already there.

A second strike came from the opposite side.

Takeshi turned his shoulder and let it glance across him instead of taking it directly. The heat still bit through his clothes, but the reinforcement held.

He stepped inside her reach but that was a mistake as Nyxara already lifted her knee towards his body.

Takeshi barely lowered his guard in time. And her knee struck his forearm and forced him sideways.

"Don’t admire yourself baby," Nyxara said. "I’m not done."

Takeshi steadied his breathing.

The problem wasn’t the heat. It was the way the hellfire fucked with every exchange.

Before, he could focus on where the contact landed. Now he had to account for what came with it.

Even a properly reinforced block carried heat into his body, and if he allowed that heat to distract him, his mana control became sloppy.

Nyxara came at him again. Her eyes even hungrier than usual.

Watching her closely, Takeshi spun to the left as her heated fist passed beside his face by a few inches.

Taking advantage of the proximity again, he stepped forward and drove his own punch toward her ribs.

Nyxara blocked with her elbow, the collision sent another burst of heat across his knuckles.

Takeshi pulled back immediately. Waving his hand even though the battle reinforcement helped numb some of the pain.

Nyxara smiled. "You felt that."

"My hand is still in one piece," Takeshi retorted quickly.

"That’s not what I asked," she swung again.

Takeshi ducked beneath the attack. And her fist flew over his head, trailing crimson light.

He turned and sent another quick jab to her ribs. This time yhe didn’t miss or better still.. She didn’t block..

And yet even after all that. She didn’t seem to flinch even though the punch rippled through her abdomen.

"__"

Takeshi’s eyes widened as Nyxara laughed proudly.

"I’m not built like the people you used to practice on."

Takeshi looked at her and shook his head in complete acceptance to that fact.

"That’s becoming painfully obvious."

Nyxara laughed with him. "But I am still yours...Master."

She raised her fists again. "Now, stop treating me like others."

The heat around her hands intensified causing Takeshi to take a slow breath.

He remembered Solaria’s instruction. To never force Mana and instead give it a path to follow.

He felt the pressure beneath his abdomen and guided it outward. His legs first. Then his torso. Then his arms.

This time, he didn’t try to reinforce everything equally.

He chose what mattered. And even as Nyxara gave him a few meters and then charge again.

Every ounce of panic he ever had disappeared as he waited.

Her first strike came toward his shoulder. He swerved his body and avoided it. His eyes slightly shut, allowing the faint trace of Mana he could sense on her fist, direct him.

The second came toward his ribs. And once again his Mana sense sharpened his instincts. And he shifted again.

The third strike forced his eyes open as he almost fell for Nyxara’s feint.

Almost...

But he caught himself in time to stay where he was. Nyxara’s real punch came immediately after.

Takeshi felt like he was in flow stats as he stepped outside it.

With her burning fist missing again. He drove his own forward. And the punch landed against her gut.

The sound echoed through the room. Even as Nyxara’s body shifted backward.

A wide and wild grin appeared instantly on her face. "There you are."

Takeshi lowered his fist even as Nyxara rolled her shoulders.

"That was your cleanest one yet," She glanced at Solaria.

"Your breathing lesson is finally starting to stick."

Solaria gave a small nod. "He is learning how to combine the two."

Takeshi looked between them with eyes squinted. "Don’t tell me you’re going to argue about whose lesson is better?"

Nyxara laughed. "No. I’m just going to make sure you don’t become too comfortable."

Her hellfire flared around both fists. As Takeshi’s expression tightened.

Nyxara noticed the strain in his eyes and yawned

"You wanted combat training."

She stepped forward.

"So be prepared to fight."

--End of Chapter--