The next day arrived, and Kylie woke with a languid stretch, her legs extending as she rose from her bed. A few doors down, Dice had also awakened. He stood immediately, a smile spreading across his face as he walked out of his room. After glancing down the hall to ensure no one was watching, he made his way to room 408. He opened the door without knocking and found Kylie standing there, still groggy from sleep.
"Well, you know what to do," he said, his smile widening with anticipation.
"It's too early for this. I just woke up. Get the books later," she replied, her voice heavy with exhaustion.
But Dice wasn't going to let that happen. The eagerness in his eyes betrayed his impatience. "Either you give me the books now, or I tell Father that you let someone in."
Kylie's stomach dropped. She had no other choice, and they both knew it. The threat hung in the air like a blade. "Fine," she muttered, her shoulders sagging in defeat.
She walked toward one of the shelves lining her walls, her fingers trailing along the spines until she found what she was looking for. She grabbed three demon skill books, their leather covers worn from age and use. "Here," she said, handing them over with barely concealed resentment.
Dice's smile grew triumphant. "I knew you'd give me your books." He tucked them under his arm possessively. "Anyway, I'm going to put these away. Get ready for our morning sparring session."
With that, he left, closing Kylie's door behind him and returning to his own room. He opened his door and decided to place the books on a nearby shelf. He stacked them carefully, one atop another, then quickly got ready, putting on his most decent pair of clothing.
"These should do," he said to himself, examining his reflection. "I mean, I know I'm not going to get them dirty. I always win when we spar." A shadow of disappointment crossed his face. "It's sad, knowing that she's so weak. I don't get why she doesn't train. The rest of the family trains. I train. All she does is go to her room and read books all day. Man, is she boring."
He sat down on his bed, pulling out his phone. "Well, I'll just wait a few minutes. I'm hoping she'll call me when she's ready." He started scrolling through his phone, needing something to occupy his mind while he waited. After all, he couldn't just sit in boredom all day.
Eventually, Kylie walked up to his room and opened the door. Her face was set in resignation. "I'm ready," she announced quietly.
Dice put down his phone and stood from his bed. "All right."
They both left Dice's room and walked down the hall in silence, the weight of routine settling between them. At the end of the corridor stood a large door that required both of their full body strength to open, along with a bit of their demon energy.
"Man, this thing is heavy," Dice muttered as they pushed together.
They quickly went inside, and when they entered, they walked toward a nearby arena. The room looked incredibly spacious, with a giant arena positioned in the middle, used for sparring and combat training. Above the arena grounds stood several statues on shelves, each one painted with meticulous detail. All of the statues had red paint for their eyes, and they all looked powerfully muscular. These weren't the usual graceless stone figures that some people would buy. They were painted to look extremely realistic, almost lifelike. The only thing that didn't look real, however, was the paint for the eyes—it looked fake, very fake.
Kylie took her fighting stance as Dice mirrored her movement. He flooded his entire body with demon energy quickly, the red aura crackling around him like living fire. Meanwhile, Kylie took at least a full minute to get her demon energy started up, the power trickling through her limbs slowly, reluctantly.
"Man, it's sad how weak you are," Dice said, shaking his head with genuine disappointment. "Why don't you just let me train you?" He looked at her with something that might have been concern, buried beneath layers of arrogance.
Kylie looked back at him, her eyes steady despite her fatigue. "It's because I don't like fighting. I don't like power."
"So why do you come here to fight me every day?" Dice asked, genuinely puzzled. "The outcome is always going to be the same anyway. You're going to be knocked out on the ground, I'm going to have to take you back to your room to let you rest, and I always win every time. So I don't see the point in you even sparring with me anymore."
"If I don't spar with you, then who's going to?" Kylie said, her voice carrying a note of sad duty. "Plus, it's been a tradition ever since we were kids to fight each other every morning. I can't just let it go like that."
Dice considered this for a moment, then nodded slowly. "I guess you're right." He rolled his shoulders, preparing himself. "Anyway, I'll let you prepare. I'll let you get a few free hits on me," he said, smirking with overconfidence. "Then I'll fight back. All right, go."
As soon as he said those words, Kylie leaped forward, punching Dice in the face with all the demon energy she had concentrated in her fist. She punched him over and over again, each blow carrying her frustration, her anger, her helplessness. After five seconds of relentless strikes, he finally kicked her. She flew back, nearly reaching the edge of the arena, but she managed to stand up and stop herself. She was disoriented from the blow, her vision swimming.
She stepped forward, trying to regain her balance, and as soon as she did, Dice was right in front of her. His fist glowed with red energy, and he threw a punch near the back of her head. But she managed to duck at the last second, her instincts taking over. She swept her foot, tripping Dice, but he took that opportunity. As he fell, he threw his fist upward, catching Kylie off guard. He punched her in the jaw, and she fell to the ground, unconscious.
Dice stood back up, brushing himself off. A frown creased his forehead. "Something's wrong with her. Usually she lasts at least five minutes, but she barely even lasted thirty seconds." He looked down at her still form with concern. "Something's on her mind or something. Maybe it's that boy she was holding yesterday."
He picked her up gently, cradling her in his arms, and left the giant room. He went down the large hall and entered room 408. He opened the door and placed Kylie down on her bed with surprising care.
"You're messed up," he said softly, almost to himself. A hint of genuine worry flickered in his eyes. "Hopefully, maybe something will get to you, and hopefully you'll find the courage to train."
He closed her door and returned to his room, his mind already shifting to his new acquisitions. "Now let's see what these skill books have to offer."
He went toward his dresser and grabbed the skill books. He picked up the first one from the top of the stack, quickly opened it, and began reading with eager anticipation.
As soon as he read the first page, he saw a new skill that he didn't recognize: Demon Stare. Usually, he focused on defensive and offensive abilities, but this Demon Stare was unfamiliar territory. He quickly read its description, his eyes scanning the text hungrily.
"All right," he said aloud. "So it allows you to paralyze your enemies for a quick second. But how do you even use this thing?"
He read further. The technique required him to channel his demon energy within his eyes—a lot of his demon energy within his eyes. When he tried, his eyes began to hurt intensely, a searing pain that made him gasp. He quickly stopped, blinking away tears.
"Are you saying I have to go through this every time trying to get this skill to work? Do I have to do this with every ability? What if I'm in the middle of a fight? I have to make my eyes feel like they're going to pop out of my skull just to get my enemy to be paralyzed for less than a second? The skill's basically useless." He paused, reconsidering. "But I guess I'll just practice, just to see what it can actually do."
He continued reading, but the rest of the book contained simply cultivation techniques and skills he already knew. They were advanced skills, so of course they would be included, but Dice already knew most advanced techniques. He was advancing at a very high rate, according to his father.
"Bunch of junk," he said, putting the book down with disappointment. "I'll just do one book a day, and I'll practice the techniques it shows me."
He decided not to attempt the Demon Stare technique again immediately because his eyes still throbbed from the first attempt. He hated that sensation—it felt like his eyes might pop out of his skull every time he even tried it once, and the pain lingered even after he stopped.
"Safe to say I'm not trying that again until I grow stronger," he muttered. "But then again, repetition is always good. Even if I do it long enough and consistently enough, maybe my eyes will get used to this pain."
Back in Kylie's room, she finally opened her eyes, sitting up from her bed with a groan. Her jaw hurt terribly. She rubbed it gingerly and looked around, orienting herself. She was in her room. The tube holding Sin was right next to her bed, but the invisibility spell was still active, so she didn't have to worry about it wearing off anytime soon. She didn't know when it would wear off—she had never actually experimented with its duration.
She looked at the boy's body through the transparent tube, her heart softening at the sight. Most of his wounds were nearly healed by now. Only a few cuts remained visible on his arms and stomach, and one or two on his back.
"Good to know he's healing up," she said softly, relief washing over her. "Now I have to heal up also."
She quickly went to a drawer and opened it, revealing an assortment of pills in various colors. She grabbed a healing pill and popped it in her mouth. As soon as she swallowed, warmth spread through her body. Her strength grew, and her jaw healed rapidly, the pain fading to nothing.
A few weeks ago, she had ordered a supply of strength and healing pills, and even a few that did both—healed and gave her strength simultaneously. She never used any strength pills when fighting Dice. She wanted to fight him with her full power, not with artificial strength. That wasn't something they were allowed to do in the demon family. They had to fight each other with their genuine power. Artificial strength wasn't permitted.
But her family wouldn't care if she used healing pills. Dice wouldn't care if she took a strength pill once or twice, as long as she didn't use them excessively. If they caught her with healing pills in her drawer, it was perfectly normal. But if they caught her with a stockpile of strength pills, they would either banish her to the streets or give her a severe punishment. Healing pills were allowed because, obviously, they were for recovery. But the family frowned upon strength pills. They didn't like using artificial strength—it was weak in their father's eyes. And in the demon family, they were not weak.
Far, far away in a desolate field, a thing materialized out of smoke. It resembled the creature that had attacked Sin—blades for hands, four white eyes glowing in the darkness, and a body made entirely of shadows. It stood nearly eight feet tall, an imposing figure of malevolence. It scanned the area, searching for its prey with predatory focus.
The creature must have healed during its absence, regaining enough strength to feed once more. But when it arrived at the location where it had last encountered Sin, it found nothing. The thing turned around, looking everywhere with increasing agitation, but it couldn't find him.
Frustrated and hungry, it disappeared into smoke, determined to hunt down its prey. The battle between Sin and the creature was far from over.