Chapter 111: The Unbelievable Power of an S-Rank Knight!
Ryuji pressed off the wooden panels, his legs vertical in the air. His fingers were straight as his body repeated the vertical push-ups. Ryuji trained like this since fighting the group of knights. He would remove a finger after every twenty repetitions, sweating from head to toe. As he came down for push-up number 758, he looked up at Alan, who stood speaking with a mature woman.
Who is that woman?
Her abs are more amazing than my mother's...
"Alan? Who is this lady?" Ryuji paused his vertical push-up, asking from midair. He was somewhat out of breath, using both his demonic energy and physical strength for the exercises.
However, after he awakened as a demon, Ryuji discovered that working out became far more efficient and actually helped him become stronger than when he was a human.
All thanks to he could mix mana with his body while training, increasing the recovery and muscle growth process. While waiting for Alan to respond, he resumed his push-ups. He aimed to reach 1,000 before finishing.
"Gah. How can he look so cute? Alan... Is he the one you want me to train? " The mature woman sighed, causing Alan to laugh.
"Yeah, I hope you can help him shine brighter. He needs someone who can crush him but also help him grow." Alan smirked.
The mature woman laughed, stepping towards Ryuji's area with her hands crossed, revealing her ripped muscles. She wore a short, tight robe and white cloth wraps across her chest that exposed her abs and belly button.
Though her muscles were well-defined, they weren't too huge, just the right amount to make her look both erotic and imposing.
She didn't interrupt or comment on Ryuji's workout. Instead, her eyes observed him like a hawk, each of his muscles, limbs and even his crotch while he finished his repetitions while panting, before lowering his body.
Ryuji didn't pay attention to the woman, because a sound played in his mind.
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Attributes Improved!
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Strength: 68 -> 70
Agility: 36 -> 38
Stamina: 34 -> 36
Grit 72 -> 73
***
"You look quite good when moving. Make sure you drink this." Her voice sounded gritty with a feminine touch. To be honest, it felt like he was listening to his mother and thus Ryuji grasped the black flask and began to drink the strange fluid inside.
"Thank you."
It was sweet, with a slightly salty aftertaste, and the texture was sticky, like syrup, but the moment the milky taste reached his throat, he felt refreshed, and any aches and pains suddenly faded after a few moments.
Alan waited on the sidelines with a calm smile. He allowed the two to communicate a bit after the initial encounter. Ryuji was slightly skeptical. He always believed that the people he needed to follow needed to have some amount of power similar to Alan since only powerhouses could guarantee one's life. "I wonder how soon she will beat his ass.
Velvet is known for her short temper and hatred of lustful men."
"Are you the person who will help sharpen me further?" Ryuji's words and tone contained nothing but sincerity and a serious tone. His usual jokes or flirting absent.
Yet the woman standing before him radiated a type of atmosphere. She gave off the same feeling a wild beast had when standing in its own jungle, unfettered and wild, only controlled by the existence of another predator of equal strength.
I really have trouble dealing with older women...
Velvet had a certain appeal Ryuji couldn't resist and even without his demon energy causing havoc, it wasn't as if he hadn't already enjoyed bedding beautiful wives a few times already.
However, she felt different.
"Is that what you desire? Alan only asked me to train you, but if you want to become something more than that. Show me why I should give you that chance." With that, she wrapped her hands with cloth bandages and walked away towards the arena, her hips shaking naturally to reveal her firm and erotic rump. "If you keep staring at my ass, I'll break it."
"!!!" Ryuji felt his body wrapped in an aura that only gave him the feeling of death. He immediately removed his gaze, then rushed towards the arena. Also moving this woman into the same danger category as his mother.
"Phew..."
"Come at me whenever you want, little boy. I will take everything you have." Velvet laughed. She waited for Ryuji to climb into the arena.
Alan placed a wooden stool on the ground and sat down, his hand holding a bowl of fried corns getting comfy before they started. "Whenever you both are ready!"
"Hmm..." Ryuji felt the overpowering pressure from the beautiful woman before him. He could feel his instincts roar like an earthquake in the distance. To survive, he had to escape. However, then his demonic blood began to pump, boil and revel in this situation. His lips curled into a smile, while his body started to moving with more vigor.
"Let's begin..."
Velvet crossed her arms and smiled. Her foot tapped the ground, counting the seconds passing. While Ryuji lunged forward, causing the earth to crack under his foot. He didn't know why, but at that moment, his body acted of his own accord.
She leaned back and dodged a left hook while tapping his other hand with her left index finger as if testing the waters. The moment she touched his finger, its bones snapped and shattered, causing immense pain to Ryuji.
Yet Velvet continued dodging Ryuji's fierce punches, using all of his force. Each one causing the air to howl and snap beside her face. Velvet only tapping parts of his body causing him immense pain with every second that passed, even if his movements became sharper as seconds turned to minutes.
Alan couldn't understand, while the others from Velvet's party all watched with serious faces.
"Big sis Velvet is having fun...That boy is so unlucky." A short redhead with tanned skin and twin tails muttered while watching the smirk on Velvet's face, her messy purple hair swaying while she licked her lips and stared at Ryuji with an obsessive gaze.
"She really is, Ruby. Do you think she'll take the job?" Another blue-haired woman part of the trio spoke with an amused voice, stealing Alan's fried corn.
Alan felt a sweat drop from his temple, not making any movements towards his food stealer as he focused on Ryuji's battle with Velvet.
"You did very well, boy. I cannot believe you still stand." Yet after ten minutes, she finally attacked first, her fingers tapping his throat, while Ryuji took the blow, his eyes almost rolling back into his eyes.
However, he didn't collapse. A red aura exploded from his body like a raging storm. Ryuji began funneling all his rage and demonic force into a single blow and threw one last punch at Velvet.
This caught her off guard, causing a bloody mouth smile to surface on his bruised, busted lip. It seemed as if he couldn't even speak because of the beating his trachea received. Yet his brutal left hook collided with her cheek.
Alan stood up the moment her punch cut the air.
However, Velvet seemed unaffected, as if Ryuji just tapped her jaw playfully and smiled, removing his fist from her and leaning into his ear. "What a good man you will be in the future. I felt that."
"He-bleargh!!" Ryuji knelt while his bruised throat spat mouthfuls of blood in a rhythmic rhythm. He heard the woman say some things before Alan came rushing.
His eyes looked up to Velvet walking away with two women beside her, tapping her bloody lips before removing the clothes from her hands and entering the doors. A voice echoed afterwards that made Ryuji feel the desire to fight again. "I'll train him, Alan. I will make him the strongest man in the history of this entire world."
"Did...did I do well?"
"Hehe, you did well. For Velvet to state this, she means it. Velvet and you will start training tomorrow, enjoy your rest day, Ryuji!"
"Velvet... her name is pretty."
"Pretty.... you fool, that woman is one of the only S-Rank Witches of the kingdom who serve as special knights that protect the kingdom from the highest threat."
"A witch...? Like your sister?" Ryuji asked while feeling his head pounding but noticed Velvet left another of those flasks for him on the arena floor.
"She was my sister and Liana's master, but because of an accident, she stepped down and became the kingdom's shield," Alan said while looking at Ryuji with admiration.
To wound an S-Rank knight was almost unheard of for anyone below Rank A.
Ryuji grinned, ignoring the pain and downing the sweet medicinal fluid, causing the wounds to heal. Yet Ryuji's left hand kept throbbing. Broken into four spots and barely held together by the skin.
"There is always someone stronger, a mountain higher," Ryuji whispered, a smile on his lips while Alan felt amazed at his body's recovery.
The wounds healed almost like time had reversed; even the hand, which Velvet completely shattered, started to re-knit the bones together.
It seems training with her will allow me to grow faster. My demonic energy also seemed excited... If it feels like this fighting her.
Then how amazing would it feel to fight the strongest existence in this world... That euphoric feeling, I can't forget it.
"Alan, teach me everything you know about Her!" Ryuji stood while looking up towards the sky, his blood pumping as he pictured his hands striking the strongest existence in this world, causing these emotions and thoughts.
Thoughts he hadn't felt since being a young boy learning martial arts with his mother.