Our swords clash in a quick shock as we exchange hundreds of blows that scatter sparks everywhere, and I’m pushed back a little, finding myself impressed by Mikael.
"Mikael, you’ve improved trendously — an almost absurd improvent!" I tell him, putting so distance between us with nimble footwork so he can’t predict my movent, my steps extrely silent and precise as he advances on with a horizontal slash.
"Naturally! I wanted to get stronger so I could face you again, so I’ve been training a lot, Pandora," he says, barely managing to hit . I feel the blade sink slightly into my flesh, though I manage to stop the strike before it cuts too deep into my stomach.
Since I’m at level 100,000, I didn’t expect him to be able to fight on equal footing, but to my shock, he’s actually pulling it off — though I’m not using magic, and I’m also not using Violet, while he’s wielding sumari.
"Hehehe, how adorable, training because of ?" I kick his blade, hurling Mikael far back. We’re having a weapons-only duel, and through it I’ve learned so interesting things about my avatar.
While I’m in this body, I can still use the powers of my true body, but only from a distance. That is to say, locally here I can’t use many of the powers that require the strength of that body, but I can use that body’s system; I can make that body generate weapons, I can make it send attacks from afar.
It’s interesting, because it just shows that this avatar I’m in is a weakened extension of myself.
"That’s right, I’m training so I can give you a worthy fight no matter the difficulty," he recovers from the strike but doesn’t advance, since this is a more casual duel between the two of us.
"I heard you’ve been training my daughter. I’m going to get my feelings hurt if you try to replace ," I say in a pouty, exaggerated way. Obviously, I’m not jealous or envious about it — I’ll always be his number one.
"I need soone to fight when you’re not around."
"Don’t worry, soon I’ll generate an avatar especially for you, love. She’ll fulfill your deepest desires and won’t vanish for long periods like I do," I say, licking my lips seductively.
"You’ve been spreading that idea around among everyone who’s with you, but the way you are, so possessive, won’t that cause problems?" he asks, taking slow steps forward.
"Oh no!!! No, no, no!! I wouldn’t be jealous of avatars!! It’s different from a clone!! A clone is a separate being, a ’new existence’ that is a copy based on a being that already exists. Avatars, on the other hand, are extensions of a single being — they aren’t a new being."
"It’s like an extra hand! Every avatar of mine is still , just weakened and adapted to the existence of the beloved who will receive her!! You know I shift my personality a little based on which beloved I’m interacting with at any given mont."
"In this case, the avatar will maintain a base personality and stay exclusively with the beloved she’s ant for!! So you’ll get a Pandora addicted to fighting!! A bit wilder and great in bed!! While Zephyra will, for example, get a calr Pandora, more patient and a little gentler most of the ti."
"There are limits to what I can do because I’m a complicated person, and all my avatars are still , so jealousy, obsession, etc. will still exist," I explain to Mikael, who, after getting close enough, lunges with his sword.
Using [Essence of Creation], I form a long, thin blade, redirecting his downward slash, and punch him in the stomach. However, he isn’t pushed back and manages to land a kick to my chin.
"Good hit, love," I tell him, slamming my tail into him and violently driving him into the ground, having let him hit so I could counterattack, creating this cracked crater.
"Without magic, hitting you is difficult because you have no openings. But if you used magic, you’d annihilate ... I’m still weak, I need to train more," Mikael says, getting up — but he’s already beco far more skilled than in our previous fights.
"Mikael, do you have so ability that makes you stronger? You were at max level, so your increase in strength is... strange." I had even been considering raising his max level to 100,000, so he’d have to train and grind his way up to the new limit of 100,000, but now I can see he’s stronger.
"..." Mikael makes a strange expression.
"...The truth is, Pandora, I’m level 1 — with a max level limit of 1..." Mikael sheathes his sword, which I infer ans the duel is over and I’ve won.
"Wait, what? Level 1? With a max level of 1?!!" This is shocking and absurd — the lower the level, the lower the power.
"Look, I have an ability that makes it so the more I fight and the more determined I am to beco stronger, the more my power increases, with a limit based on how much my body can withstand. It replaced my levels."
"I still haven’t reached the limit, because after I beca the strongest man in the world there were no more challenges, so my determination to get stronger dropped a lot. But ever since you beat , that fla of determination has reignited, and I’ve been trying to beco stronger again."
"I’m not sure where the limit is, so this ability could stop working at any mont, but as long as it doesn’t stop, I’ll keep getting stronger." I, who knew nothing about this ability, am surprised.
’What a broken ability — though it still has limits. It’s like trading the levels you have for the chance to raise your power much faster, but with a clear ceiling that makes it still sowhat balanced...’ That explains everything; it explains why Mikael, even as a human, is so powerful.
And it’s also still an ability that only a battle-crazed fanatic like Mikael can extract the maximum potential from. After all, most people on the verge of death would be terrified, but Mikael jumps straight into death’s face and faces everything head-on.
"It’s strangely an ability that suits you. Now I’m curious to see how far you can go," I say, approaching him as he cracks his knuckles.
"You can be sure I’ll at least reach the level of this avatar of yours here."
"This avatar is level 100,000. You think you can fight it on equal footing? Amusing — arrogant, too — but you can try," I give him a light punch on the chest with a confident smile.
"I’m going to go see Zephyra. For now, I’ll leave our duels for another ti — I still have to figure out how to create multiple avatars that I can control at the sa ti!!"
"Alright, I’m going to go eat sothing. Besides, your daughter is quite strong — she’ll beco a powerful opponent in the future," he says to as I start to leave.
"Yes... they’ll beco strong opponents — if they survive." When I say that, Mikael looks confused, but I just give a little smirk, imagining what my daughters will be doing in that forest. I hope so of them understand that I don’t want them to co back in one month, but rather to stay there and evolve by conquering the forest.
...
...
...
"U-Urgh..." I groan in pain as Aqua and Eclipsya eat pieces of the arm I ripped off, and Lycoris, who’s hungrier because she has far more magic and needs more recovery, eats so of my organs.
"Azazel, are you okay?" Eclipsya asks with tears in her eyes because she’s having to devour my body.
"I-I’m fine, it doesn’t hurt that much... just finish quickly... w-we’ll need to get out of here as soon as possible... I-I also need to eat, and self-cannibalism isn’t going to help ..." We’ve been in this hole for two weeks, and the three of them have been surviving by devouring my body to regenerate.
Because I’m a vampire and my regeneration doesn’t depend so heavily on magic, I was able to help them recover. But I could barely recover myself since I had to constantly expend strength regenerating — everyone here eats far too much.
And in the end, we decided to live in this forest indefinitely. Fleeing from here quickly is practically a death sentence; it’s better that we survive at a steady pace while we grow stronger.
"Don’t worry! Everyone here has recovered at least 50% more of the magic we had. We’ll be able to kill that thing up there; we just need one more day to plan," Aqua says, licking her lips and crushing the remaining bones with her teeth.
The sound of bones being ground up is deeply uncomfortable, knowing they’re my bones. Lycoris is just off in a corner waiting, because she’s the wildest, so the isolated environnt — filthy and reeking of blood — is making her unstable.
Aqua isn’t in great shape ntally either. She looks at as if I’m dinner. Only Eclipsya maintains full rationality, probably because she wasn’t used to eating raw at and blood.
"Okay... s-so no one’s eating anything else today. I need to recover too..." I say, exhausted. Even though I have high regeneration, without magic, without food, and being constantly dismbered and wounded, my regeneration has dropped significantly.
"In that case, we should use this ti to plan. Obviously, Lycoris is the one who has to kill that thing, so Eclipsya and I will provide support, and you, Azazel, will stay here so you don’t get in the way," Aqua already takes the lead. Normally I’d feel offended at being told I’d get in the way, but I understand — I’m too tired to fight; I’d just beco a target.
"Does anyone disagree?" No one disagrees with Aqua, mainly because the situation is far too dire. Even Eclipsya, who normally rivals Aqua, says nothing, because she knows there isn’t much we can do here.
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