Too slow!

Although the Nightblades giant and his demon pet did not seem to be able to keep on fighting, the duel was not over yet. Until Rinji recalled his Kumiwa, Kenji would not receive experience points, and Yoichi could not celebrate the victory.

Silence floated in the air, in the form of wind among the branches of the peach trees. After the rumble unleashed by Rinji's attack and the final blow of the young tamer, the noises of the city beginning to wake up, flying over the training arena walls.

Yoichi placed his hands in front of his face, returning to the combat position. His right hand was wounded. If he had thrown a second punch like the one that knocked out Rinji, he would undoubtedly have suffered some severe, irreversible damage.

The giant stood up and opened his bloodshot eyes. His gaze immediately moved to his demon pet. The Kumiwa was progressively regaining its senses, but the holes caused by Kenji's teeth were clearly visible on its tail.

Before receiving the explicit command from the guild master, Rinji started screaming. He spread his arms and looked up at the sky, unleashing all the accumulated anger.

After that un unbridled gesture, the Nightblades giant bent his neck left and right. His back and sore bones creaked as if his physique had already forgotten the trauma it had just suffered. Rinji's eyes were now pointed on Yoichi.

His gaze says nothing good. I'm going to wait here, hoping he doesn't attack me again. My hand hurts, Yoichi thought, clenching a fist in his right hand and wiping the blood that kept dripping from his cheekbone.

Not satisfied with the result of the fight, Rinji activated the power of his Kumiwa once again. The turtle demon slowly got back in the shell, giving its tamer the requested enhancement.

The Nightblades warrior's body became stony as if nothing had happened. The hard rock created from scratch by the Kumiwa wrapped him all from the joints to the bones.

Kenji growled, having never lowered its guard like a real feline. Yoichi took a deep breath. Within himself, he was aware that, despite the outcome of the battle being in his favour, his body was more damaged than that of his opponent.

Surprisingly, the stone-top shape Rinji had used to fight Yoichi was not his strongest technique. Suddenly, piece by piece, his arms significantly increased in size: two huge cylinders of hard rock enveloped his forearms. The hands, to adapt to the new physical proportions, grew in size too.

The carapace behind his back thinned, growing selectively only along his spine. Triangular and pointed scales ran through the back of his body, from the neck to the tailbone.

While the spinning-top transformation looked more defence-oriented, the new one appeared to be studied in detail for the offence.

Yoichi realized that Rinji's Kumiwa, although its tortoiseshell appearance made it seem harmless, had a much higher level than Kenji.

The young tamer was aware that he still had to learn a lot about the leveling system and evolutionary stages of the demons, but he was sure that, in any case, Kenji would fight beside him.

"Your transformations are incredible, Rinji. Before I saw them with my own eyes, I would never have believed that anyone was capable of doing such things," Yoichi commented, stabilizing his wheezing. "I'd love to learn how to fight as you do, I mean it" he smiled.

That sudden sentence further caught Takamori's attention. The guild master, since Rinji had stood up, had not said a single word. The honesty of that young, blond-haired boy was enviable, and his constant desire to learn and be part of something made him look like a veteran, experienced warrior.

"Mh. I don't know if this is a tactic to make me lower my guard or if you're honest. Anyway, it has been a pleasure to fight you, Yoichi," Rinji proudly answered. "However, you still have much to learn! Aaargh!" the giant yelled.

Without further notice, Rinji dashed towards his opponent, moving the two huge hands alternately to use charging momentum. Kenji ran away from his tamer, moving at great speed towards the Kumiwa.

The Nekage wasted no more time already knowing what to do, leaving its tamer room to dodge that heavy strike.

In his new attack stance, Rinji's movements were much faster and less predictable. The amount of energy needed by Yoichi to shift the scales from his arms to his legs was too high for his current condition.

My mighty punch didn't even scratch him! It's not possible… there was all my strength inside that fist! The young tamer thought, not knowing what to do. Even if I enhance my legs, I can dodge only one, maybe two of his attacks. How the hell do I do that?!

"Too slow!" Rinji shouted angrily, taking advantage of his opponent's moment of uncertainty to increase his charge speed.

The armoured giant's huge stone hand tried to hit him: the area of the palm of that hand was so large that it covered Yoichi's entire body. He knew that by dodging sideways, he would end up crushed and taking a step backwards, his long fingers would still reach him.

Having exhausted his hopes for a counterattack and looking at Kenji out of the corner of his eye, still far from the Kumiwa, Yoichi used his powers in the only way he felt right.

The black scales disappeared from his arms and instantly wrapped his chest: the pectoral muscles, abdominals and hips became hard and resistant. When Rinji's reached the target, his stone hand hit the centre of Yoichi's chest.

In addition to the increased stamina, his enhanced chest could dissipate some of the energy received. Suffering a blow that could potentially make him fly over the tatami, Yoichi's physique reacted strongly.

His feet crawled on the rocky floor, travelling more than thirty meters in a matter of seconds. Unable to restrain his inadvertent backwards trajectory, Yoichi soon found himself at the edge of the training tatami.