"Want a break?" Adam asked still in his fighting stance.
"Heh, No chance…" Esdeath smirked in return, "Things are just starting to get interesting." The sweat on her body froze in an instant just like the moisture in the air around her.
This was the first time Esdeath was facing an uphill battle, a battle where she wasn't the stronger one. A battle of uncertainty with the fear of losing grabbing at her ankles, this was all new to her that is why she wouldn't be stooped.
Not by the fear of death, or by the fear of losing, and especially not by someone….
"You've died already," Esdeath was looking at the monstrous blue centaur in front of her, this was the cause of her powers and the cause of those Goosebumps.
GRRAAAAAAAAA*
It shouted trying to spread its frost towards Esdeath trying to swallow her whole, there was no doubt that it was trying to fight for control over her body, but it was futile to do something like that to her.
Esdeath already knew of his existence, but she didn't bother with him as he had been obedient and never went out of line, but now? He had crossed that line.
"Zip it, I am not interested in the words of the defeated…." She glared at the beast with a frosty wind leaving her body, it quickly overpowered that frost of the beast.
And Esdeath was now freezing the beast like he was planning to do with her.
She never did something like this before, because she had never been pushed that far, but now it was different.
'I'll take full control of these powers,' The frost that spread from her feet painted the whole area in white, enveloping everything including the towering Beast in its entirety.
"Do not get in the way of my fun." Esdeath sneered and the frozen beast began to crack, and before long it was reduced to small shards, this marked its end.
'Hmm?' Adam stared at Esdeath for a while since she was just standing there, and just as he was about to speak she vanished from her place.
'What?' Adam's eyebrow raised slightly as he saw Esdeath was already attacking his flank, 'The resistance is stronger than before…' He thought while feeling the resistance from the frozen time and space.
Esdeath had refined this technique more than before, No it would be better to say that she was pouring out more power to strengthen it, but even then Adam was able to fling Esdeath away by catching her hand.
'So there was more…' Adam moved out of the way when he saw nearly a dozen hills of ice dropping on him.
"Aren't you using too much power?" He asked while walking towards Esdeath who had just landed on the ground.
"Didn't I tell you that this is nothing…." She was adamant about this, and as if to prove her point, Esdeath allowed her energy to run wild.
And in a matter of seconds, the entire area was turned into an ice field.
This area was now so cold that if someone weaker than Esdeath came in here, their entire body would freeze and crack open just from standing there.
'This…?' Adam looked around him, and saw tens of ice centaurs surrounding him.
All of them were brimming with this coldness just like his surroundings, and all of that cold energy belonged to Esdeath.
No, it actually belonged to the Beast she just swallowed, and now she was experiencing a terrifying increase in her output.
"That's quite a good way to store your power," He commented as Esdeath's smirk got wider.
"This is nothing," She didn't care for much at the moment, the power in her body was running wild and she would continue to release it outside. This way she can store it and use it later to prolong this battle.
'I feel stronger than before,' Esdeath felt like with this surge of power that was in her body, and at this moment she felt like she could do anything.
'I don't think I'll ever run out of this….' She felt like she could do this for eternity, and she would like to continue this fight for eternity.
Because it was just that fun and fulfilling, she didn't need to hold back, that is why she was just letting it all out.
No need to care if the world is frozen, no need to care if her subordinates die, she can do whatever she wants and fight to her heart's content.
'This is what I should be like,' And Esdeath expected this of herself, a predator that never becomes the prey, no matter how much time passes.
That is what Esdeath saw herself as because, she could never be the weaker one.
"Alright then," Adam smiled slightly, he had increased the size of this room, it was now as big as the Asian continent, because if he didn't do that this whole place would be jam-packed with ice.
'The pressure on my body is also getting heavier than before,' Adam was impressed as he moved his hands and legs, 'feels like I am moving in half-frozen water.'
But that didn't matter, because he could move and Esdeath just wanted to fight, so she attacked along with the ice centaurs.
She was high on the powerful flow of energy, and because of that, she had little regard for everything else, which is why she continued the relentless assault with a smirk on her face not caring for injuries.
Only after 5 days and filling the entire room with 100m thick ice did she stop. Esdeath was currently on top of that ice, not a shred of power left in her body or the ice.
She had used everything she had, her clothes were fully frozen thanks to the sweat and blood on them, and seeing her like that…
"Need a hand?" Adam asked walking over, his appearance still the same as he was 5 days ago, not even a single strand of hair out of place. It was like he had done nothing in that time.
It was that the two of them had a battle, but were in complete opposite states at the end.
"Let me stay like this for a while," Esdeath said and Adam didn't say anything further, he knew that she must have a lot on her mind right now, so he just sat down beside her.
"I'll heal your injuries as you think," Adam sighed as he was the one who caused them, yeah he could continue to dodge her but…
'She wouldn't like that,' He could understand Esdeath's personality; she had pride in her abilities and wouldn't take nicely to such an insult, since she lived for battles.
'And I can't disrespect that ambition,' That is why Adam was leveling his abilities with Esdeath in this fight, that is why her injuries weren't that bad in the first place.
But the question was, why was there such a big difference between them if they were both on the same level? The answer was rather simple…
'Experience….' Esdeath already knew the answer, she had seen the way Adam moved and she couldn't help but admire that style of fighting, 'It's like he had done nothing but fight his whole life… to be able to fight so effortlessly, he surely must've.'
And she wasn't wrong, at some point Adam ran out of opponents to fight, but even then he couldn't stop training, he needed to become the god of the professions he had after all.
On top of that, combat jobs made up nearly 90% of the total professions he had, Adam had to continue training day after day, with nothing else to do in between in order to complete the condition.
Aside from eating or sleeping, if he was lucky enough for that to happen.
All of his years were spent on nothing but training by himself, all alone cooped up in a corner of the world that no one dared to visit, because they would be slaughtered if they did.
'To reach that level of perfection… how many years would it take?' Esdeath had her eyes set on the prize now, she knew that she couldn't be able to find someone like Adam.
He was someone who devoted so much of his time to perfecting his abilities. That dedication was something she admired, and it was also a quality she wanted her lover to have.
And from what she had heard while overhearing a bunch of female soldiers in the army. Lovers were supposed to bring the best out of each other.
'He brought out the best in me,' Esdeath knew that she would never be able to reach this level if Adam wasn't her opponent, according to her rough estimate at this moment…
'6… No 5 times,' Esdeath was currently 5 times stronger than when she walked in this door, it was a growth she hadn't thought she could achieve in such a short time, if she was on her own.
But she believed in herself to reach this level, just like how she believes that….
'I'll make you go all out,'