Chisson threw a punch at his opponent as he dodged out of the way of their attack. As his legs slipped to the side he called upon his maou, letting the energy from his core flow through him cycling it into one of the three patterns he had knotted into his soul.

'Focus blow!' The words forced themselves into his mind without prompting and he berated himself for the mistake. A strong mind-soul would be able to overhear such a stray thought and counter before the technique even manifested. Still, that wouldn't be a problem in this fight. For now he had to put everything he had into this attack.

Chisson poured every drop of maou from his weak and exhausted soul into the technique that should form at his fist. Willing the common maou to take the shape of what he knew should be a relatively basic attack. A coating of energy that would cover his fist not only protecting it from harm but greatly increasing the damage his relatively average arms could do. For a moment, just one, he felt it snap into place, a new part of his hand like an extra layer of chitin suddenly coming into being. He almost let himself grin. But before he could even do that he felt it fizzle, like hundreds of ants crawling along it's non-existent nerves, and with a pop it was gone. Chisson was so accustomed to the sensation but he didn't even cry out from the discomfort, still it was distracting enough that he stumbled and didn't see the next attack from his opponent coming.

A block of stone as wide as his torso exploded from the ground at an angle aiming itself firmly at his gut.

Chisson wouldn't say the blow landed with bone shattering force but it was more than enough to crack a rib and leave a dent the patch of exoskeleton that ran from his armpit to his hip. Pain like a red hot nail being driven into his side Lanced through him, and he felt his life line fade a bit more, now a little bit under half compared to the barely over half it had been before.

"Seriously bug-boy, this is the third time I've caught you in my territory, the second time you've 'forgotten' to pay the fine, and you have the stones to not even surrender when you're beaten."

Chisson looked up from where he had instinctually hunched over to protect his rib, finding further 'stones' to glare at his opponent. If anyone else had been watching they most likely would have called it a pained grimace with the lower than average downturned eyebrows but it was the best he could do at the moment.

"Bensen, I was only using the gym and I told you I really don't have the money. I'll bring it next time I swear."

Only half of that sentence was true. Chisson had found that the best way to deal with Benson and his occasional Goons was to leave his money at home and, this was the important part, not get caught. That way, if you failed at the latter they'd only beat him until they could rifle through his pockets leaving when they came up empty. If he had money, on the other hand, they'd give him a few extra 'lessons' for denying them their rightful due. Though sometimes they'd throw a few extra slugs in anyway just to be extra friendly.

The man, well boy really, he looked barely half a year older than Chisson, snarled,

"That excuse won't work this time, bug. New rule, twice in a row I'll assume the second times on purpose. The gym is only proper visitors" the last two words were said as the fiend cracked the knuckles of his large fists, and seeing as they were scaled and tipped with razor-sharp claws even Chisson had to admit that it was a bit intimidating.

Even still this guy had had his gang set up their territory around a gym! A gym of all places. Who tried to take over a publicly available government-owned service in the first place. And if you are going to do that sort of idiocy why not a bank where people were guaranteed to have money? Either way it was only a matter of time until someone called the authorities and they were thoroughly removed. It wouldn't be Chisson but somebody would. That wouldn't help him now though. Right now he was standing here with a broken rib, what was likely a concussion from the first punch, half of his lifeline gone, and his core all but empty, staring down a six foot tall pile of stone-flame soul muscle, scales, and unresolved mommy issues.

This was going to suck.

As a Kaigin, Bensen looked like someone had vaguely described a turtle to an artist who had interpreted such as an alligator with a spiked shell on its back and then some wise man had decided to set the picture on fire. Most of his body was and ashy stone-gray but cracks in his shell and between his scales glowed as if they were filled with Magma. His tall and Broad body meant he packed a lot of force even without using his maou to set you alight. He likely weighed more than Chisson three times over and right now all that weight was barreling towards him, a shroud of fire covering the rushing man like a meteor aiming to crush his Target.

"The fuck man!?" Chisson shouted as he leaped out of the the way, the useless Wings on his back fluttering despite their complete inability to lift him from the ground. He could feel the heat radiating from the thug's body, even past the splintering pain in his rib, as he just barely got out of the path of the charge. " are you nuts that could have killed me!" He hissed in between gasps stifled by gritted teeth.

As low as Chisson's Lifeline was a direct hit like that might have depleted the protection it provided his actual life force, making lethal damage a real possibility.

In response Bensen just smiled, maou gathering in his palm and hardening into a spike of stone which launched at Chisson like an spear. The smaller boy was forced to twist out of the way, his already awkward footing made worse as a brick of stone much like the one that had injured his rib tore itself out of the earth just beneath his right foot, sending him tumbling to the ground and onto his side. The crack, nauseating pain, and further the depletion of his life line letting him know that his rib had thoroughly changed its status from cracked to broken. The world tried to go white with the agony but Chisson didn't allow that. This was far from the worst thing he'd ever felt. Granted, it was up there, but it wasn't the worst. He sent a fraction of his little remaining maou to the injury just barely numbing the pain. This wasn't really a technique, more a cobbling together of power into a vague shape, it was ultimately like using a sharp twig instead of a sword, but it was better than nothing. It was one of the few things that Chisson could accomplish with his maou, but to be fair he had had ample reason to get good at it.

It wasn't enough to keep him from having to stifle a scream as he rolled to the right to avoid one of Bensen's stalagmite spears.

Even through the haze of pain Chisson's mind raced trying to figure out what to do. He had no way of dealing with Bensen. Even blurred by the tears in his eyes he could see the large man getting closer. Looming over him like everyone else. Some part of his mind, desperate to at least say that he had landed a hit, made his arm strike out. Aiming to land a fruitless blow on other man's scale armored shin. But even that was denied to him. Bensen kicked his fist away, almost gently, and in one motion, before Chisson could retract it, stepped down on the arm. The pain felt almost distant. If it weren't for the snap and his Lifeline bottoming out Chisson wasn't even sure he would have noticed it breaking.

'I'm an insect, right? Why do I even have bones to break?!'

"Not so cocky now are you?'' Bensen looked down at Chisson with what some would call pitying amusement laced with contempt, but Chisson just called 'The Asshole Look' "I'll leave you off with a warning this time. Next time you'll remember how this works. Know your place." With that he spat in Chisson's face. It was scalding barely below boiling but Chisson made no move to wipe it off, it would have hurt much more than just waiting for it to cool.

Chisson lay there for a while doing his best to use his maou to manage the pain. After what felt like ten minutes, he thought he finally had the energy to bear standing.

Cursing through every second of it he got to his feet.

A prideful part of him wanted to find the nearest healer get back into shape and make Bensen pay, he always felt like that after losing a fight, which meant pretty much always felt like that after a fight. But even he could admit that it would just result in a repeat of this situation or more likely worse.

He had never been able to take losing well, which was unfortunate with his condition. The number of times he had been hurt worse a second time after going after someone who had beaten him up was already firmly in the category of stupid. No reason to die doing it, not yet at least.

Right now, the best thing he could do the beat Bensen was survive and not cower. That's what Tay would tell him when he got home at least, and for all her flaws that girl had some good advice when it came to making bad decisions.

Getting home was an awful experience.

Every step hurt. Every breath hurt. With his headache even thinking was starting to hurt.

It was moments like these when Chisson regretted that he and Tay lived on the outskirts of town. Sure the rent was cheap, and all the best (and by that he meant unhealthy and fried) food stands set up shop away from the center of the town where their hawking would disturb the more Elite. But on days like this; hot, humid and hurting, the idea of not having to walk a mile to get home from the town center was just a little appealing.

If he had money he could have paid for it a ride in one of the many wagons that zipped up and down the roads but once again his don't bring money to the gym rule was biting him in the ass, not even including that time he'd just wanted to buy a water. Add to that that asking for a ride in his current condition would be tantamount to wearing a sign that says 'Ban Me. I'm Violent :)' and he'd have to stick this one out.

He half stumbled into the door of his house. The vines filling the interior entry automatically reaching out to steady him. And at the same time entangling him so that he couldn't move forward

Gritting his teeth, he lifted one leg letting some of the vines snake over and pull his shoe free of his foot, them the other. No shoes in the house. Tay's rule.

As if thinking her name summoned her the allevine walked out from the kitchen. Her hair was down, its green length reaching her chin. Chisson knew if someone looked closely they'd find that rather than being strands of, well… hair, each individual strand was a tiny Vine, though that part of her nature was made a bit more obvious by the leaves growing out of the her head, a tiny one poking out on top and two large ones falling down the sides always reminding Chisson of dog ears. Her most notable feature though, the one of any allevine, where the red grape-sized fruits that grew off some of the strands of her hair

She wore comfy soft looking pants the kind that were obviously designed to sleep in, and an oversized loose-fitting shirt that Chisson was pretty sure there was one of his.

"Chis? Where have you been? You weren't here when I got home, I stopped at the sandwich stand for dinner but yours is pretty much cold now. And I might have eaten a few of your fries. You still have around 10 maybe 4 left, so… All the gods you look like shit!" She looked like he had slapped him her, honestly she should be used to him looking like this.

" I just went by the gym… got a bit more workout than I was bargaining for"

The concern Tay's face was quickly becoming mixed with anger. " what did I tell you about going there without me!? If you must, can you at least bring the money!"

"I don't-"

" I don't want you to give them the satisfaction of paying them any more than you do that's why I'm telling you to let me come with you. All you have to do is wait till I get off work! Get off your shift come here and sit around for an hour. It's called relaxing."

Chisson scoffed "I don't have time for that. I'm so close to getting somewhere with my maou. I managed to get Focus blow to manifest today! In the middle of a fight!" He could tell her that it had only lasted long enough to distract him when it fizzled out but that wouldn't support his argument.

"and I don't have time to go to your funeral. Speaking of which how is your lifeline?"

Chisson pursed his lips hesitating to answer "...Spent"

Tay's eyes widened and she immediately dragged him to the couch fast enough that it was uncomfortable but still somehow slow enough that he felt like she was treating him like a piece of fragile China. She placed him down on the cushy surface as if she was still afraid she might break him. With a slight wince she plucked one of the fruits out of her hair.

"Open up."

"you know, I really don't enjoy the idea of eating part of you"

"Oh trust me, I am more than aware. Anyway, I already plucked it, so keep whining."

With that the berry was stuffed into his mouth and he began to chew.

Tays fruit were legitimately delicious, like cherry tomatoes but a bit sweeter and with just a hint of spice, honestly it was part of why it was so strange. There was no disputing the effects though. As he had that thought he felt his life line begin to refill even if his body filled with a warm glow that soothed the pain much better than anything his own maou could accomplish.

"You know," Tay began, Chisson looked up at his best friend, turned roommate, turned girlfriend as her hands began glowing with the white light of a life maou technique "I'd have to do this a lot less if you.. " he looked away as she paused, clearly trying to find a nice way to put her thoughts.

"Gave up?" Chisson finished

"...found another path" she sighed " don't get me wrong I'm going to support you whatever. If you keep fighting I'm always going to be here to heal you, if you decide to be an author I'll read every chapter of your book and give you honest opinions about how bad they are" she smirked, then it faded "it's just, I'm selfish and seeing you end up like this is awful for me, not to mention a lot of work, and I can't imagine ending up in this shape is all that fun for you either if your maou's not going to work for you it might be good to find a passion that doesn't require it." She Shrugged even as Chisson felt her power knitting his bones back together.

"You're one to talk about not going against the grain mrs. 'Offense healer'"

" that's different. I'm a pioneerand you know it" she slapped him playfully on the shoulder " but yeah I know where you're coming from and that idiotic attitude we share if part of why we ended up friends it's why I'm trying to convince you not stopping you" from anyone else the pat on the head she gave him then would have been condescending, but something about the knowledge that for her the act of stopping him, or really most of the people in town, would be as easy as a light jog somehow planted it squarely in the realm of reassuring.

The number of times he had been hurt going after someone who had beaten him may have been firmly in the category of stupid. But the number of those people didn't realize that their easy victory meant they were due for another visit from Tay was indisputably in the category of insanity.

Once Chisson was completely healed, Tay got up and brought over his food not even hiding the fact that she swiped another one of his few remaining fries. She shoved the grease soaked paper bag into his chest

"Eat! My techn-"

"only accelerates the body's natural healing process I know." Chisson fished the sandwich out of the bag and took as big a bite as he could fit in his mouth. Even if he was expecting it the sudden onslaught of hunger was making his headache come back with a vengeance. It was the price he paid. all that material had to come from somewhere.

He leaned back and they sat in companionable silence. They had only started dating about 3 weeks ago but had known each other for more than long enough to be completely comfortable in each other's presence from a platonic standpoint.

Tay waited for Chisson to finish before breaking the silence.

"okay, I have a day off tomorrow. I was going to finally force you to take me on a proper date, but a gym trip will have to do"

Chrisson grinned, knowing he looked like a kid staring at the cake at his name-day party "Does that mean we can spar?" He felt his wings Buzz under his elytra at the prospect.

"Never known a guy who wants to get beat up by his girlfriend so bad" Tay said with a shake of her head "yeah sure, I could use the extra training. I'm so close to evo I can taste it" she ran her tongue across her teeth in an exaggerated manner " it tastes like kicking ass"

"You'll be ready for the tournament before it even knows what hit it."

" oh it will know what hit it. An Nascent allevine winning a combat tournament is already going to be a spectacle and, me I'm going to give them the biggest show I can manage"

Chisson had no doubt she would. And as excited as he was for her, the topic made his stomach twist; he'd probably never feel what it was like to be closing in on evolution, let alone the experience itself. And so rather than respond he let free the yawn that had been trying to escape for the past few minutes.

" sorry I'm exhausted:"

Tay glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, she probably knew what was going through his head and didn't want to force the issue, "yeah, having your bones broken will do that to you" she gave him a small caring smile " go to bed, stupid. A good night sleep will refill your maou and you'll need every drop if you want to grapple with me tomorrow."

Hours later after he was sure that Tay was asleep in her room Chisson sat up. He stood, while there was nothing stopping him from doing this on his bed he hoped a change of scenery might help. It was a lame hope one that had been tested and proven to fail already but one that for some reason he still held on to.

Once he had quietly made his way down the stairs, avoiding contact with any of the vines that littered the house, he took a seat on the couch. The memory of their earlier conversation still fresh in his mind.

He was getting left behind.

It was inaccurate to say that they had started their journey towards power together, it would be inaccurate to even say he was on one. When he had met Tay five years ago, she had already been a badass but now she was about to take her first step into another realm entirely, and he was here trying to get a single technique to work.

He pulled up his legs crossing them beneath him, and tried to slow his breathing.

The evolution requirements for an allevine to enter their Nacent form were pretty straightforward, like most Birth evolutions.

It would require Tay to compress enough maou at the edges of her core that it broke her current capacity, and while undergoing that process to eat one of her own fruits at Peak ripeness, a requirement that took about a month to achieve and Tey was holding on to a specific fruit behind her right ear for. (he still wondered how the Ali Vine was okay with the autocannibalism, he'd even seen her snacking the fruits when she got bored. She compared it to biting his finger nails but his fingernails weren't fleshy or technically part of his reproductive system)

It was the first part of the process that interested Chisson though, from what he knew it was a requirement that spanned across all Evolution attempts.

He took a deep breath, trying to turn his vision inward. He pushed away his thoughts focusing on the feel of the maou inside of his body. He let his mind's eye hover over it, showing him what his physical eyes could never see.

It was blurry, like an image through dirty, smudged glass. Like text barely legible. Like movement he couldn't quite track.

But he could see it and that meant it was there. Tay was not the first to see him as a man with no arms trying to climb a mountain. There was a point when he thought the same, he was still determined to climb the mountain with his teeth if he had to.

But here was the proof that he had maou, even if it only came in whisps.

He looked past the unreadable veins that arced across his being, past the techniques he had spent weeks each knotting into his soul with strings of energy, though they all should have been achievable in the same night. Past the empty niches, still waiting for a technique to fill them. Past his Lifeline as it filled a space that couldn't possibly fit in his body, strumming each heartbeat until he found it. His core. His center. The very camber if his essence.

He almost gagged at the sight of it.

It was small and shriveled, mostly empty of maou from his earlier use and not much better full. What little power had already regenerated barely filled 1/3 of even his miniscule capacity.

It would have to do.

What flowed within him was a clear light of common maou, its untainted presence found in trace amounts in anyone's maou system. Anyone could use a common maou technique. A common-soul would do it the best but anyone could, anyone but Chisson.

Chisson took a deep breath in. Filling his lungs and feeling his maou stir with a the act.

He reached out to it, touching it like he would to attempt a technique or move it to a wound. It responded like a blind dog responding to its master's call. Hesitant. Slow. Shakely.

But it did not deny him, it could not.

Even If it was like a stick-thin arm being told to lift a boulder it would try. And so would he.

As he exhaled, he brought the flow in on itself attempting to turn the pond of energy into a drain, a whirlpool. The idea was to condense what he had here to take the maou from what he visualized as a liquid into a minuscule crystalline form.

It swirled around itself, a translucent spiral crashing against it own edges like waves. The speed steadily increased, Rising increment by increment as he forced the energy to chase its own tail.

Chisson didn't let himself get excited though. As many times as he had tried this he got to this point on nine out of ten.

Almost on cue the spiral stopped increasing and speed. Now turning at a steady rate it had reached the terminal velocity he could maintain and would not go any faster.

Now came the hard part. And the hard part sucked!

Without stopping the spin Chisson began holding the energy in place as it touched the center of his whirlpool, stopping it in its tracks and letting it add to the slowly forming mass.

The whirlpool shrunk as he gritted his teeth with effort and discomfort. It was like taking a breath in and then following it with another inhale and then another without ever breathing out.

It felt horrible and wrong, like he was denying his soul something it desperately needed... and Tay had been doing this every day.

Chisson forced his breathing to remain steady.

It got more difficult as the spiral shrank.

Keeping the spin going at this point was like walking up a smoke filled flight of stairs with a sack over his face.

"Just a few more seconds" Chisson whispered.

And all at once it clicked. The maou he was holding together collapsed in on itself. Chissons mind lurched as the pressure pushing back against his will was suddenly gone.

After the mental stumble, his Mind's Eye focused on the results of his labor.

It had no real form, it was still maou, but the energy now looked different to his senses.

Before it was like water, or steam, free floating and light, shapeless. Now he saw it as a pearl, it wasn't an accurate statement because it had no true rigidity and could still be shaped, but it was deeper, more real. It was barely more than a speck, even made with its full capacity it would be small, it would take hundreds of iterations of this exercise to evolve, but it was there.

He allowed himself to hope now.

It had been difficult this time, maybe that meant…

He had used less maou this time, maybe that would…

He really wanted it this time that had the count for…

But all the hope in the world couldn't stop reality, not by itself.

And so Chisson was unsurprised to watch his hard work, all his pain and effort, crack down the middle and shatter into a million bits. Accompanied by the familiar feeling of ants crawling across every nerve in his body. It had happened before, and now it happened again. He would die in his birth-form.

Chisson opened his eyes. Smoothing out the expression of concentration that was plastered on his face and would have made anyone else who saw it think that he was constipated.

With a glance out the window he identified the sunrise.

His attempt had taken all night. Well, who needed sleep anyway. He could make do with caffeine.

On that note he got up and started brewing a fresh pot of coffee, and tea for Tay. If he was going to spend the rest of his life as a house husband he might as well get good at it now.