Hardships

In the weeks that followed his arrival at Fort Necross, Paul's life became a veritably living hell.

Under normal circumstances, those that had undergone a pilgrimage to Fort Necross would find themselves involuntarily drafted into the lowest rungs of Atofe's Elite Guard. Their training involved fighting against their fellow members for everything from food and water to accommodation. If they were powerful, they would quickly move up the ranks and be allowed to stay in the lodges closer to the keep. If they were weak, they would be forced to become servants, subject to the whims of their betters.

Only the most capable individuals were given a chance to train under and potentially receive Atofe's attention. Those that performed exceptionally would even be given an opportunity to warm her bed, though, more often than not, they would come to regret the encounter. Afterward, they would keep their heads down and focus solely on their training, refusing to stand out for fear of being chosen a second time.

Despite being much weaker than the men Atofe preferred, Paul had the 'fortune' of receiving the legendary Demoness's attention on a near-daily basis. His usual schedule involved waking up before dawn, sparring until breakfast, fucking until lunch, getting his ass kicked until dinner, and then falling asleep in the middle of fucking.

Though Atofe had given him weekends off, that didn't mean Paul was free from the tyrant's intrigue. Words such as boundaries and restraint didn't exist in her private dictionary, so she would periodically show up while spending time with the girls from the IOF or barge into his room when he was trying to sleep. The only way he could avoid her was by sneaking out of the fort while she was busy, but then she would be in a bad mood upon his return...

Fortunately, as oppressive as Atofe's behavior was, Paul couldn't deny he had was growing stronger. More importantly, Kishirika's theory regarding his ability to absorb the essence of others proved true. It didn't manifest in his physical appearance, but his strength and regenerative abilities had improved noticeably. By the end of his third month of training, he didn't even need to rely on Lesser Regeneration as he could recover from most minor injuries and bone fractures in a few hours.

On the topic of Kishirika, Paul was surprised to see how rapidly the impish Demoness was growing. He was partly responsible for this, but Kishirika had also revealed that one of the reasons for her stunted growth was her reliance and production of Demon Eyes. Every time she developed a new one, she basically had to invest all of her reserves into its production. This was a permanent investment, so as long as she continued producing and making use of her Demon Eyes, Kishirika simply didn't age.

Now that she could travel freely, eat whenever she wanted, and generally do as she pleased, Kishirika could stockpile her Mana and allow her body to develop. This had always been an option for her, but maturing rapidly without possessing the power to protect herself had ended badly on more than one occasion.

Like virtually every other race, Demons accumulated Mana more quickly when they were still in their growth period. After dying and resurrecting dozens of times, Kishirika had figured out that maintaining a physique on the cusp of maturation was the optimal condition for stockpiling Mana and producing Demon Eyes.

With Paul promising to provide her with a Vision and as much Mana as she needed once she had matured, Kishirika began spending her days eating until she resembled a pregnant woman, downing literal barrels of alcohol, and sleeping for upwards of fourteen hours a day. She would occasionally get into spats with Atofe, but Paul was able to prevent them from arguing about the fortress's food and alcohol stores by offering to foot the bill for everything Kishirika consumed. He also provided them with souvenirs obtained during Ganyu's periodic trips to the Central Continent, so they at least pretended to get along.

Unfortunately for Paul, his periodic 'offerings' to Atofe were the very thing that caused her to take his training seriously. Foreign luxury goods were nearly impossible to obtain in the Demon Continent as no one was foolish enough to attempt and import them. The few exceptions were preserved goods, so Atofe was like a kid in a candy store whenever Ganyu returned with bulk produce, a variety of alcohol, foreign spices, and even clothing.

Though he realized his gifts were one of the root causes of his suffering, Paul continued to provide them. His presence within Fort Necross hadn't been well-received by Atofe's men, not just because he was receiving 'special treatment' from the General they respected, but because he was 'monopolizing' the girls from the IOF.

As Atofe had pointed out during their first encounter, there were very few women living within Fort Necross. In fact, with the exception of Atofe and Bhathia, there were only seven other women present before the arrival of Paul's group. Since members of the Elite Guard were only allowed to leave the fort every ten years, it was impossible to describe just how frustrated the men were to have a bevy of beauties within their reach but be unable to touch them.

In the first few weeks of their stay, twenty-seven people had ignored Atofe's warning, either attempting to make a pass at one of the girls in Paul's Party or worse. Fortunately, Lilia had been smart enough to stay within the keep. As for everyone else, they always traveled in groups of three or more and were more than capable of fending off even the most powerful members of Atofe's Elite Guard.

Though he felt nothing but disdain toward the men that had targetted the girls, Paul allowed Atofe to deal with them. He also had Ganyu bring back more than enough food and alcohol to distribute among the troops, so, by the time a few weeks had passed, most of Atofe's men had quit resenting him. A few had even started to respect him, not because he was powerful but because they couldn't imagine enduring Atofe's training for more than a few days...

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"How long do you intend to keep pretending? If you want, I can knock you out for real."

Raising his head from the small crater formed when Atofe smashed his face into the ground, Paul stared back at her with a broken nose and a deadpan expression as he replied, "Don't tempt me..."

Amused by Paul's response, Atofe's smile widened as she mused, "Good. If you're able to banter, you should be able to keep fighting. Pick up your sword and come at me."

Though he closed his hand around the handle of his sword, Paul didn't abide by Atofe's request. Instead, he placed his right palm against the ground, his Dendro Vision releasing an intense light that caused the blue-skinned Demoness to leap backward, barely evading the spear-like vines that had attempted to skewer her body.

Unlike when he trained with Gal and Reida, Paul had been using his Vision liberally against Atofe. He had initially attempted to fight her using just his sword skills, but she had called him an idiot and criticized him for holding back against an immortal opponent. She also tossed aside her sword and gauntlets to beat him with her bare fists as a punishment, so he had been using everything available to him ever since.

"I've seen that attack dozens of times by now. How long are you going to keep repeat-"

Interrupting Atofe's reproach, Paul executed his Longsword of Light, the edge of his blade impacting the flat of the black, club-like pole she was wielding. Unfortunately, as he had failed to cut through her, the force of the impact fed back into his hands and arms, the muscles of his forearms practically erupting into a fountain of blood and gore.

Though she was blinded by the shower of blood and gore, Atofe could still sense Paul's movements, dodging his attempt to unleash a Fireball directly in her face. However, instead of counterattacking, she shook her head to clear her vision before staring down at Paul's collapsed figure and remarking, "This self-destructive style you've been developing might work against an opponent of similar skill level, but, in case you've forgotten, I'm God-Ranked in the North God Style. All you're-"

With his body in hypovolemic shock, Paul lost consciousness before Atofe could finish her speech. He had attempted to jumpstart his regeneration using Lesser Regeneration, but the pain of having his arms explode made it difficult to cast even the most elementary spells. If he hadn't developed the habit of emptying his bowels and bladder before his training, he might have shit and pissed himself from the pain.

Nudging Paul's head with the tip of her tapered sabaton, a disproving frown marred Atofe's face. While it was true that Paul was improving at a discernible rate, he was nowhere near the level she expected of a Hero. If she didn't hold back and focus on defense, she risked killing him with just a single, serious swing of her sword.

Shifting her attention to the trio of women observing the sparring session from the sidelines, Atofe stated, "Take this idiot and get him patched up. I want him fully healed before our lessons this afternoon."

Though she narrowed her eyes, Ganyu rose to her feet and hurried to her Master's side. She hated seeing him injured, but as Paul had asked them not to intervene, she could only observe from the sidelines with clenched fists.

While Ganyu carried Paul to a healing bath she had prepared in advance, Atofe focused on the remaining two girls, Ei and Ghislaine, smiling as she asked, "So, which of you is next?"

Rising to her feet, Ghislaine calmly replied, "I'll be in your care..." before immediately charging toward Atofe. Paul wasn't the only one focused on growing stronger these past three months. Virtually everyone, sans Venti and Kishirika, had been focused on improving their respective strengths and skills. They couldn't just remain idle while Paul pushed himself to the point of collapsing, so they had been training just as hard.

Evading Ghislaine's wild yet forceful strikes, the frown on Atofe's face gradually morphed into a smile. Ghislaine's swordsmanship was a lot more honest and straightforward than Paul's, making her attacks relatively easy to predict, but her adaptability and instincts made her a more interesting opponent.

Parrying Ghislaine's Sword of Silence, Atofe mused, "Not half-bad for a kitten! But you'll need to be a lot stronger if you want to keep following after that fool...!"

Punctuating her words with a backhand, Atofe was unsurprised when Ghislaine rolled with the punch, flipping backward several times before immediately lunging back at her despite a bloodied nose. She lacked the regenerative capabilities of Paul, but that didn't stop her from charging in without a moment of hesitation.

Feeling a shift in the surrounding air currents, Atofe swung her club to produce a gale-like shockwave, disrupting the Anemo Energy building around Ghislaine's sword and body. A tiny cut appeared on her face, but it immediately healed as she shifted her weight forward to meet Ghislaine's charge with a shoulder to the diaphragm. The latter did her best to keep her center of gravity low, but with a nearly fifty-centimeter difference in their heights, Atofe was able to keep hers much lower.

With Ghislaine sent skidding backward, cradling her stomach and doing her best to avoid vomiting, Atofe's laughter briefly reverberated through the parade grounds before she bellowed, "Serves you right for being so tall...!"

Clenching her teeth, Ghislaine dropped into a three-point stance with her left hand on the ground and sword held to the side. Anemo Energy began to swirl around her, but before she could execute a charging attack, Atofe swiped her club at the ground, producing a cloud of dust and peppering Ghislaine with stone shrapnel. Some might call such an attack dirty, but, as a God-Ranked practitioner of the North God Style, Atofe rarely, if ever, played fair...

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