A few days after obtaining Beleth’s power, Miko had returned to his usual training. Well, not usual.

*Bam!*

In the usual plains where he would train, explosive sounds rung out.

*Bam!*

The source of it was the collision of flesh onto flesh. Ace and Miko’s fists collied back to back as they sparred with each other.

Miko looked the same as always, but Ace was different.

First of all, he was slightly taller than he usually was. He’s far more muscular and bulky as well. The expression on his face was wild, and he looked a bit older. It was hard to tell that he was the same person.

Even his clothes were weird. He was wearing a dark pants with a belt, which was made with thick chains. He was wearing armored boots, thick arm guards with armor attached to them, and a pair of fingerless gloves. He was shirtless which made his hard muscles visible.

He took a step forward and swung his fist at Miko, who lifted both arms in front of him to guard it.

*Bam!*

Miko was forced back a few meters with his feet skidding on the ground. He brought his arms down and looked at Ace.

“Such overwhelming strength. This Brawler Character is something else.”

He said while checking to see if his arms were alright.

Ace was currently using one of his characters that were available to him through his Boost Player ability. This character was mostly focused around physical prowess. It was the character that can use all of Ace’s physical strength without restriction.

“I’m honestly surprised. Since this is a character of his, that means the strength he’s using is his own right? Then Ace is incredibly strong when he’s not restrained.”

Momo praised.

“When he uses his characters, he’s able to train them through activities that fits them. If they level up, so does the trait that character specializes in. This way he can train certain traits and achieve faster results than others, because every EXP he gains using this character will go towards that trait and that trait alone.”

Sora explained.

“So you mean that if this character gets stronger in anyway by sparring with Miko, his physical strength will also increase even if he didn’t do any strength training? That’s pretty much cheating.”

Said Momo.

“We say the same thing all the time.”

Hina said with a bitter smile.

“Come on, Miko. This is the perfect chance for both of us to become stronger. Stop cowering and come!”

Ace exclaimed.

“Ah, we forgot to mention that his personality changes with every character.”

Hina said.

“Cower?”

Miko smiled and started walking towards him. The pressure his body gave started to increase as his body was covered in a black glow. This was him activating his Vita.

“Let’s go then. Just don’t start crying later.”

He said.

“You took the words out of my mouth!”

The two rushed towards each other at the same time. Miko jumped into the air and aimed a flying kick at Ace.

*Bam!*

A loud sound rung out when Ace countered the kick with a punch of his own.

Miko twisted his body and aimed a kick at Ace’s face. Ace ducked under it and countered with a jumping uppercut towards Miko, who was still above him. Miko unbelievably dodged it by the skin of teeth.

He landed on the ground, and leaped back to avoid a kick to neck. The moment his feet touch the ground, he pounced back at Ace and released his claws. He swung his claws at Ace, who blocked them with his arm guard.

Ace then slammed his fist in Miko’s midsection, and sent him flying back. Ace the pounced after him, swinging his large fist. Miko jumped over him, and swung down his heel on the top of Ace’s head.

*Bam!*

He then distanced himself and moved to attack Ace again.

“?!”

Suddenly, Miko saw Ace’s fist only a few inches away from his face. Miko moved his head out of the way so fast, it looked like he almost broke his neck.

Miko then stepped forward and slammed his palms on Ace’s midsection.

*Bam!*

Ace suddenly felt his body being blown back by a powerful shockwave. He then saw Miko leap into the air again and aimed a kicked at his face. This time Ace couldn’t move out of the way in time, and was kicked on the side of his head.

“Guh?!”

He immediately lost his balance, and started falling on his side. It was while he was falling, that it looked like Miko suddenly became faster.

Ace watched him land on the ground and charged at him again, and hit him with a three jab and two hooks to his body. Ace fell on the ground and immediately felt the pain from Miko’s lightning fast strikes.

He, however, couldn’t wither in pain for long, before seeing a foot falling towards his face. He quickly moved out of the way and got to his feet.

*Bam!*

He immediately received a body blow before even standing firmly.

‘What’s with this speed?!’

Ace thought in his head.

He threw an uppercut, but only hit air. He looked in front of him, and saw Miko in front of him. Ace noticed that he had activated his Dragon Rage at some point during their fight. He then saw him deactivated it, and only use his vita.

“I see. He was switching between his vita and Dragon Rage, and then changed up his speed every time he attacks and defends to mess up my timing.”

Ace said to himself.

“No matter how many times I see it, Miko really is something else.”

Said Sora.

“Ace’s Brawler Character was made for close combat, but even it’s getting overpowered by him.”

“Overpowered isn’t the right word. It’s just that Miko’s reactions, reflexes, combat sense, and instincts gives him the advantage.”

Said Momo.

“It’s been like this since he was a child. The longer Miko fights, the sharper he becomes. It’s like he’s a slow starter, who turns into a monster once his engines getting running.”

She said.

Ace stared down Miko, who’s gaze looked incredibly sharp. It felt like Miko was even analyzing the way how he breath.

“Creepy.”

That’s the only way he could describe the opponent in front of him. Miko gave him the feeling that he was a prey slowing getting cornered by a predator.

Even so, he smiled.

“Fighting you really is the fastest way to level up my characters.”

He said.

“Let’s take up a notch.”

Red light covered his legs.

“Leg Boost!”

His leg suddenly became slightly more muscular. Miko then saw him fade in, in front of him.

“?!”

*Bam!*

Miko was hit in the stomach and was sent flying back. Before his feet could touch the ground, he saw Ace running beside him. He bent his back backwards to avoid a straight to the face.

“You can still react?”

Ace asked with an impressed tone, while aiming a barrage of kicks at Miko.

Miko avoided a couple of them, but it didn’t take long for him to started taking hits. Before long, Miko’s body was swaying left and right from the barrage of kicks he was receiving.

Ace suddenly stopped and lifted his right leg into the air, and then swung down his heel.

*Bam!*

“Hm?”

He was surprised to see Miko cross his arms above his head to stop it.

“You’re really tough, huh?”

Ace said.

Miko pushed his leg back, and then grabbed his belt and threw him away from him. This didn’t affect ace that much, and he only twisted his body to land on his feet.

“Looks like you’re reaching your limit.”

Ace said.

“If this is wasn’t a hand to hand only spar, I’m sure you wouldn’t be in such a situation. Your Dragon Shot would’ve easily overpowered me. Well, this character though.”

He said.

“No, this is fine.”

Miko said while breathing heavily with blood flowing from his mouth and nose.

“Fine? You’re beaten up, and I still have more Boosts I can use to increase my strength and speed. How is this fine?”

“………”

Miko didn’t respond and only stared at him with his terrifyingly sharp gaze.

‘Despite being beaten, he looks like he’s more alive than ever.’

Ace thought. He took a fight pose again.

“As I thought, you’re pretty creepy.”

He smiled.

“But you’re the type of creepy that I like.”

After saying that, he rushed towards Miko, and quickly arrived in front of him. Ace threw a punch and glanced at Miko.

“?!”

That’s when he realized that Miko was following him with his eyes.

‘He’s already used to this speed?!’

*Bam!*

At that moment, Miko slammed his fist in Ace’s face with all of his body weight behind it.

*Bam!*

Ace landed on his head with his body laid out on the floor. His body was twitching a little, but other than that, he didn’t move at all.

“……..”

Ace’s eyes were open, but whether he was conscious or not was hard to tell.

“Ace got cocky.”

Sora said.

“If he had went for a Leg BoostX2 plus an Arm Boost, he could’ve overpowered and beat Miko. After all, he has more destructive power than I do, so he could’ve done better in a fist fight than I did.”

He said.

“I think he underestimated Miko.”

Hina added.

“Since it was a hand to hand battle, he thought that Miko couldn’t produce the destructive power he showed against you. So he didn’t want to overdo it and hurt Miko. He decided that ordinary boost would be enough.”

She said.

“He wasn’t completely wrong. Miko was one step away from defeat.”

“Is that what you think?”

Momo asked.

“Miko was indeed in a tough spot, but to him that’s the best thing he could ask for.”

“What do you mean?”

Sora asked.

“I think you should realize it by now, but Miko evolves through intense situations.”

“Well, its true that when we fought, no matter how hard I push him, he would somehow push back with twice the force. At one point, it felt like it would never end, and that he would continue to get stronger.”

Sora said.

Momo nodded in agreement.

“This is called Evolving through battle. Basically, Miko is one of those types who perform their best under pressure. That’s why I said he was a slow starter.”

She explained.

‘There’s only two ways to defeat Miko. The first one is to crush him swiftly before he has anytime to get his engines running. This is hard if you’re close in strength with him. The second way is to crush him with overwhelming strength, which he has no way to retaliate against.’

Momo thought to herself.

‘Of course, I would never tell you that.’

She thought.

She looked at Miko who was breathing heavily while standing over ace’s body.

There was a frown on his face, as if he wasn’t satisfied. Momo saw that and also frowned.

‘My biggest concern right now, is his insatiable desire for strength. If I’m not careful, Miko might end up devouring everything around him including himself.’

She thought.

‘Gramps said I should monitor him, while Tia said I should let him be. I agree more with gramps. Miko’s current state of mind is dangerous. It won’t be long before no one can control him if this continues.’

At that moment, Miko glanced at her. She could sense a terrifying lust for power flowing from him. It kept screaming-

“Stronger, I can be far more stronger than this! I must get stronger, and faster than before!”

Momo put on a troubled expression when she saw that. After a while of thinking she whispered to herself.

“I wonder if I should call back Aunty and see if she can do anything about it?”