Dah had been probing Mikkel's soul for the last few days and throwing random mental attacks that up until this point had been deflected or resisted. But now after one of his most recent probes he had discovered this souls weakness.
Smiling mercilessly Dah pushed harder as he knew this fight would soon be coming to an end. Mikkel's soul started struggling in desperation, for the first time since he had restrained it soul was trying to escape.
'Struggle is futile'
He began forcing memories onto the soul along with negative images, and emotions. All related to the Gods. It was simple really now that he knew the source of the priests strength all he had to do was keep eroding it until it was no longer strong enough to resist him.
"The gods wanted me to kill you"
"They summoned me here"
"They watched as you died and did nothing to save you"
All of these sentences and more Dah was repeating slamming his mental strength against the weakening soul. Then it happened, a moment of distraction, a moment of doubt. The soul cracked ever so slightly. The victory made Dah increase his pressure even more as the crack began to grow and spread, ending with it shattering moments later.
'Nice' Dah thought with a satisfied smile. He could already feel the difference in his own strength that he had received from the soul. While it put up a good fight in the end its defeat was inevitable.
Feeling proud of his accomplishments he groaned inwardly as even though he had won this battle the next thing he would do today is practice physical combat with Lucius. Lucius has not gone easy on him either, as Dah had left most sessions with bruises and aching muscles.
'However today might be different, after all I did obtain more power with this soul'
...
Lucius smiled when he saw Dah, much like the smile of a predator when it sees his prey. Although he wouldn't admit it Dah was faring much better against Lucius then he had originally thought he would.
Lucius had been instructing him in swordplay and could only describe Dah as the quickest learner he had ever instructed. Dah had explained it to him like this, "When Ral'guud gave me his powers his physical prowess came also, the only thing I had to do was practice the movements so that they felt familiar to my muscles."
Lucius accepting the explanation was still impressed by his speed of growth.
'It surely couldn't all be Ral'guud's power' he had eventually decided instead to trust his own instincts and believe that Dah just was naturally gifted.
Lucius greeted him when Dah got closer. They met outside in the courtyard of the demon castle. Dah had brought along his sword but noticed that Lucius did not have his today.
'We won't be using swords today" Lucius spoke seeing the look Dah had given him "today we will be sparring using mana enhanced physical strength."
Up until this point they had been practicing without the use of mana but today it seemed that would change.
Laying down his sword Lucius and Dah stared eachother down. Dah had used mane to enhance his fists when fighting the villagers but this would be his first time using it against someone who was also using mana to enhance.
Breaking the showdown Lucius darted forward using mana to enhance the power in his legs so he could move faster. He struck at Dah's face with his right fist. Lucius was used to overwhelming his opponents quickly. Even though he recognized Dah as stronger then most even he was surprised when Dah having expected this type of attack sidestepped and countered with his own mana enhanced fist.
Dah seeing surprise flicker in Lucius's eyes mistook this as an opportunity to focus on attacking. Putting all his power in his right fist he struck at Lucius, although he quickly deflected the strike off of his left shoulder. Taking advantage of the momentum Lucius twisted and roundhouse kicked Dah knocking him to the ground in a painful heap.
Lucius grinned, "If I hadn't held back on that kick every rib of yours would have broken."
Dah couldn't help but think every rib already felt like it was broken.
"You are pretty strong even for a demon, when amass more souls you very well could become the strongest among us" Lucius said surprising himself with his truthfulness.
"My advice for you today is this, unless you're using mana enhancement for speed try to not enhance yourself until the moment before impact. This will ensure your mana supply doesn't dry out." Lucius continued, "Also try practicing enhancing other areas of your body not just your hands and feet, this will allow your body to become able to absorb a blow with less damage. Practice one area at a time then try practicing and holding two areas at a time."
With this Lucius smiled and sauntered off as Dah slowly rose back to his feet.
'Once he gets a few more souls he's going to become a demon among demons', Lucius thought. He decided to keep these thoughts to himself now. Better to wait and see.
After todays defeat Dah was exhausted and in pain, luckily all he had left was spell training and some studying later today. Which, while mentally exhausting was less strenuous physically.
After grabbing a snack to enjoy during his lecture he went and met Raphael. Raphael had been giving him lectures on the species, structures, religions, politics, and philosophies of this new world. Today he gave a rather boring lecture on how Strivico were superior to standard warhorses.
Dah wondered glumly if Raphael was purposefully torturing him.
As if he knew what he was thinking Raphael smiled a little too innocently as he continued his presentation.
…