Hell II

I opened my eyes to find myself on the floor, with several bruised and broken ribs. Alaric was sitting across from me and he was drinking tea. ''So you're finally awake huh? Took you long enough.''

I sat up straight and the first thing I noticed is that my injuries actually didn't hurt as bad. I could feel that Raiden's magic was protecting my injuries. There was some sort of cloak around them to make sure they didn't get hurt more.

'Thanks buddy' I thanked Raiden. 'No problem b0ss, we still need to kick this guy's ass after all.' I chuckled at Raiden's response. 'I'm not sure if we could' I thought, Raiden didn't respond after that. Apparently he was determined to take revenge on Alaric. And so was I to be honest.

Alaric stood up and looked at me with a thoughtful expression ''It seems like you're not able to bring out your full strength yet, but that makes sense, sometimes strength comes with time. Not training.''

''However… Your bonding pretty well with your spirit. How about we give this another go?'' Alaric had his trademark devilish grin on his face. I wanted to protest but before I could react Alaric was already standing near the switch.

The metal statues had repaired themself automatically, so I had to face all of them all over again. Alaric saw my indignant expression. ''Oh if you think these are bad, just wait until you have to fight against the Level 5 ones, even I struggle against her.''

Level 5? Is he serious? There were even stronger statues than these ones? And not only 1 level more but 4. I wanted to curse my bad luck but the statues came back to live again and I started dodging.

Raiden and I continued our assault, first I punched the metal statues and he would conduct lightning through them making them explode. We were a great team and it was a great feeling that I could actually beat some enemies.

But before I had noticed it the statues were cornering me, they had grown smarter. They analyzed my moves and acted on them. I was backed up against the wall. I would've jumped straight out of there but there was a secondary line that was behind the first line.

If I would've jumped over the first line then I wouldn't be able to react when the second line fired their spells at me. All in all, it wasn't looking so good for me. I was tired from all the jumping and the broken ribs didn't help me out too.

I was conflicted, Raiden also didn't seem like he had much strength left. He kept saying that he would kick their asses but I could hear the he wasn't that sure of himself yet. He was just a Basic spirit after all.

Luckily I had one fail safe left, I still had Oni's rune left. If Oni was as powerful as she promised she were then I would be safe. But I wonder how much effect the winter would have down here. It was cold here, that's something. But we were sheltered from the outside.

But a Godly spirit should be able to do it. After all, it was winter right now and she was supposed to be Godly around this time. I still thought it was a waste to use the rune here but I had no other choice.

Alaric didn't seem like he was going to turn off the switch to safe me. I sighed 'Alright Raiden, I'm going to activate Oni's rune, are you okay with that?' Raiden wanted to protest but he came to his senses not long after 'Fine, but after this we won't rely on any other Spirit again'

I agreed and activated the rune. I said the magic words ''Oni-Chan''. The temperature immediately dropped another 10 degrees and the ground started to freeze immediately. Snow started to drop and power entered my veins, a lot of power. It was immeasurable compared to Raiden bonding with me.

Luckily it didn't hurt because the rune already was in my neck. Instead I was granted great strength even Raiden seemed to be stronger like he had become an Advanced spirit. I concentrated the magic that I had gotten from Oni and concentrated it into a small ball.

I released the ball and it dropped in the middle of all the metal statues. At first it didn't seem to do anything and I thought that Oni had pranked me in some way. But after a little while the ball exploded into brilliant lights.

You could see the Northern Lights on the top of the ceiling and where the ball had landed large icicle's had pierced the statues. They were immense, they reached from the middle to the room all the way to the other end.

They were at least 10 meter in size and 3 meters in width. It was beautiful, they glistened in the light of the Northern Lights. If this what a Godly spirit was capable of then I couldn't wait to train Raiden up to a Godly spirit.

There were still some statues left but he quickly dealt with them, thanks to me and Raiden's increased strength. Raiden could now use an Area of Effect attack which struck multiple statues at once.

First a couple of clouds would form and they would turn very dark. Then there was a loud crash and multiple lightning bolts would pierce the statues and immediately would render them useless.

Raiden also variated Fire and wind attacks and we quickly dealt with the last of the statues. After our great surge of strength Oni's rune faded and Raiden transformed back into a Basic spirit. It would seem he needed an actual domain to become an Advanced spirit.

My strength also faded and I fell unconscious again, but this time I had a big smile on my face. I was happy that I had dealt with the statues. Even though I needed help, but Oni's help made me see that the path to strength was in reach.

I just needed to use my powers well. With Oni's help my physical strength also became stronger, and now I knew how it felt so I was sure I could unlock it again. I was sure that I needed more training to be able to unlock it but it was in reach. I was sure of it. I bet Raiden felt the exact same way about becoming an Advanced Spirit.

When I woke up I wasn't on the cold floor of the training coliseum anymore but I was in my warm bed. I woke up to Lucifer licking my face and he seemed concerned. ''I'm okay buddy. I just got beat up a little that's all.''

Luckily I could already feel my ribs healing. It still hurt like hell but it was a positive. Alaric was way harsher than I thought it would be. But I also kind of appreciated it. What's the point of training if it's easy?

I sat up straight and it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. When I looked up I saw it was morning again. Did I sleep a whole day? I got dressed and cleaned my wounds under the shower. Most of them were internal but the feeling of warm water running on my body was hypnotising and I almost fell asleep again,

In all fairness I would've fell asleep if it wasn't for Lucifer's purring. It shook my whole body right into my core. I went out of the shower and I got dressed. Getting dressed was a painful affair. Just putting a shirt on already hurt my ribs a lot.

When I got downstairs the entire family was having breakfast. I shot Alaric a dark glare but he had a present for me. He shoved it towards me and told me to open it after breakfast. I nodded to him gratefully. I hadn't gotten a present in a while. My family wasn't big on birthdays. And I definitely didn't get presents out of the blue. But I think Alaric just wanted to apologize for the whole situation in the basement. However that didn't mean that he would get off easily. I would prank him until he cried for mercy.

My mum and step-dad give me a cake for my eight birthday and I would get little things. But actual presents were rare. So I was really happy with the gift.

My mum and step-dad gave me a concerned look but I didn't really notice it. I was eating like my life depended on it. I was incredibly hungry. When I was done eating Lycan started speaking.

''You were asleep for 2 days Anthony, I'm happy to see you're well. Alaric has already received his punishment. Even though I sort of agree with him. I'm happy to see that you progressed in your own strength but also that your teamwork has increased.''

Lycan inhaled a small breath of air but continued right after ''However… That doesn't mean putting you in grave danger is a good idea. There's only one of you after all.'' Lycan shot Alaric a dark glare and he seemed like he wanted to disappear on the spot.

Which he could do in theory, but he seemed to believe he deserved it. My mum got up from the table and gave me a hug. My step-dad did the same thing. ''We're so glad you're fine, you bet I beat Alaric's ass after I heard what happened.'' My mum said with an angry look on her face. I wonder how strong my mum was if she was able to beat up Alaric.

After the hugs I was finally able to open my gift, inside there was a discman. When I saw the walkman I was overwhelmed with joy. I could finally listen to music again! Even though there weren't any cd's in the gift I had also gotten some money attached to the discman.

''I didn't know what to get you so I just decided to get you some money so you can pick for yourself.'' Alaric said with an apologetic expression. Alaric was silent for a little while until he continued talking.

''If you want we can go out later today and get you some CD's?'' I nodded gratefully. I couldn't wait to go out and buy some AC/DC, Prince, Micheal Jackson and many more. It had been so long since I listened to music. In my past life music always calmed me down and I had sincerely missed it. It was a crucial part of my life and I couldn't wait to go out later today.

Lucifer sniffed the discman. He didn't think much of it and he trotted around the table once more. Collecting his daily dose of pets. I wonder what Raiden would think of the music. Would he also be able to hear it or not? Something that had to be tested. Maybe I could find some battle music for us both.

All in all, getting beat up by Alaric and his metal statues seemed to be a great idea. I was stronger and more determined, the same seemed to be with Raiden although he was sleeping at the moment. Also getting a discman was a huge positive.

This promised to be a great day…