(CHAPTER 25) GETTING STRONGER

He patiently lay on his bed pretending to be dozing off waiting till his room mates to be fast asleep. "it would be a lot easier for me if I just had a room all to myself." Neon thought to himself as he began to wonder of the different skills and abilities he could learn to get stonger. Once he was certain Nate and mercey were asleep. He stealthily opened and snuck out the window landing on the floor on his tip toes hoping not to make any sound which may awake someone from their slumber. As Neon started to make his way towards the forest, he could have sworn he heard the sound of twigs snapping. "What was that!" FH snarled as a threatening sensation enveloped his surroundings. "I don't know" Responded Neon staring at the bushes while hoping his thoughts would not creap there way into reality. "Could there be someone hiding or spying on us." Neon thought to himself as he made his way closer to the bush. Just as he did, a small figure made itself apparent to him. "What the...!" Neon yelled as he jolted back in retaliation, startled, but then calmed down upon the realisation of was in front of him. "Phew, it was just a squirrel" Said Neon as he let out a huge sigh of relief. "Tsk, it was just a stupid squirrel...let's not waste time Neon. Let's commence your training at once." Spoke FH showing a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Once Neon made his way to the training spot they had used previously, he began to speak. So what kind of training am I going to do." Spoke Neon with his hands on his hips. "Well you've already learned how to access your Chi and move it to different locations of your body enhancing both power and movement. This would allow you to hold a level ground in close combat, however with an Iratheon. It's much too dangerous to be fighting so close to your opponent, so today, I will be teaching you how to conjure up your demon scythe which can be used for long ranged attacks. Hearing those words from FH gave Neon a huge confidence boost. If he could successfully conjure a weapon like that. He would be a lot more comfortable in fights as he would be able to fight up close as well as from a distance which would ensure his safety in most cases. "Thats one of the skills I unlocked when becoming a demon. Okay, so how do I go about summoning the demon scythe." Neon asked curiously. "That should be easy for you to do as your already familiar on how Chi works. All you have to do is call for the weapon by name and send a portion of your Chi towards your hands. After that, try and change the shape of your Chi so that it can be altered to fit the shape of a Scythe, oh and you can alter the size of your weapon based on how much Chi you used to make the weapon" Stated FH with a serious tone. "Sounds easy enough I guess." Neon exclaimed with a nervous laugh as he lifted his arm above his head." It should be easy, I mean it is a weapon thats ranked the lowest out of all weapons and only the weakest of demons use it.

Neon took a deep breath as he channelled his Chi towards his left hand. "come forth...Demon Scythe!!" Neon bellowed gritting his teeth as he started to envision his Chi changing shape. As he concentrated vigorously. A dark energy which was cloaked in darkness could be seen seeping out of Neons hand. A red aura started to cloak itself surrounding the black void which intoxicated its surroundings causing the leaves and rocks to cascade frantically. A sudden surge of energy could be felt at the hands of Neon. He opened his eyes to see a wave of energy which was only getting larger as it continued to discharge until it betrayed its former shape into a weapon which manifested into a scythe. "I did it!" Neon shouted excitedly. "Hey this isn't something that causes for celebration. Remember, this is a low ranked weapon and any demon can do what you did with ease. For now test out its power and try altering it's shape while attacking."

With that said, Neon prepared himself to commence a barrage of attacks. He held the scythe with both arms tightly as he propelled himself of the ground and into the air. With the aid of his amazing fizique as well as his super strength, he swung the scythe with all his might cutting through the wind, however, he didn't stop there. He sent multiple barrages of attacks similar to the first one which made their way crashing into the ground creating a sound that mimicked fearsome explosions. All the attacks carried great resistance which kept Neon in the air. He braced himself for one final attack. Closing his eyes, he altered the size of his Chi twice as much which made the scythe double in size. Neon roared as he swung his Scythe ever so swiftly in a horizontal manner making a full 360 degree manoeuvre. The wind roared in protest of the devastating strike as the 360 degree attack became a spectacle of artful destruction creating a circled slash that cut through the wind until it faded into nothingness.

Neon floated in the air for a few seconds with a shocked expression on his face, impressed by the mighty attacks he had created. As he came crashing to the ground, he couldn't help but wonder that even though it was a low ranked weapon, it still carried mighty strength. it only made him ponder how strong the weapons like the shadow scythe were and if he could even one day weild such a devastating weapon.

"impressive, you were even successful on altering the size of the scythe. But with the Chi you used to make the scythe, you could've at least made it 10 times as big." Snickered FH "really!? I could've made the attack a lot better. looks like I'm gonna need a lot of practice huh." Neon uttered while staring at his hand from which the scythe was made. FH was a little surprised at how much Chi he used to conjure the scythe. Neon didnt need much, however, he did use quite a lot for a low ranked weapon. But despite this, Neon wasn't fazed at all as he thought he had used the bare minimum ammount to conjure the weapon. "looks like Neon is packing a lot of Chi and it will only continue to grow even stronger." FH thought to himself as he wondered just how much Chi he had. "I still have one more skill that can be of use to you." Said FH. Neon nodded insisting on the continuation of his training. He wanted to do as much as he could in every session to push himself to even greater heights.

"This move is called the vanishing step. it's a technical skill that's used to quickly change from one location to another. For example, you could use the vanishing step to go from being in front of your opponent, to suddenly standing right behind them in just a fraction of a second." "woah, I never realised there was a move that could make you go that fast!" Neon stated in awe. "Yes, it's a quick and deadly skill that increases your speed exponentially and when used correctly, can cause openings for devastating attacks." FH then began to clear his throat as he began explaining how to execute the skill correctly. "Okay, so what your saying is that I have to channel the Chi to my feet, then say the skill by name. Is that right?" Spoke Neon seeking conformation. "Yes that's exactly right. And don't forget to stay low so that you keep a good balance. Try using the skill on the tree to your left." FH exclaimed.

Neon stood next to the tree which towered over him with a sense of dominace. it was a humongous tree which was about 3.5 metres in width alone. "Let's do this" Shouted Neon as he got on all fours as if he was getting ready for a marathon. He then closed his eyes in concentration as he channelled his Chi towards his feet. He then swiftly opened his eyes glaring at the tree which towered over him one last time. "VANISHING STEP!" As soon as those words were spoken. Silence enveloped and engulfed his surroundings. it was as if time itself was frozen. He could feel every particle in the air gently pressing at his body. Feeling as light as a feather, he rapidly dashed facing the opposite side of the tree. His movements were so precise and brisk. mirages could be seen from where he once was. It was as if there was multiple versions of himself. Once he was in position. He began announcing his attacks to the world. He could have used the Chi which was already at his feet to execute effective kicks, however. Neon was quite confident he could take it a step further. He began channelling his Chi towards his fist and prepared himself for a devastating punch. He swung his fist as hard as he could while rotating his hips to bring out the full force of his momentum. However, after executing the devastating punch, it failed to make contact with the tree. Neon then used all the Chi that was accumulated in his fist to create some kind of energy blast. Blue energy could be seen bursting with tremendous power. The energy blast shot through the tree like a bullet and went on to hit a near by rock which looked like it had exploded upon impact. "Amazing" Thought FH as he pondered on just how strong that concentrated Chi was. "Holy cow it actually worked haha" Shouted Neon triumphantly. "I'm impressed Neon, you actually made something that was initially for close combat, be turned into something that can also be used for long distance also. transitioning between close and long ranged attacks. Now that causes for celebration. I didn't even have to teach you how to shoot energy blasts." FH exclaimed as he admired Neons dedicated attitude. "Haha, I was wondering if I could shoot concentrated Chi out of my body. I didn't think I'd pull it off though." As Neon was praising his hard work, a new day was approaching them. the sun could be seen on the horizon chasing away all the shadows. "it's already dawn? I'd better head back before anyone wakes up." As Neon made his way back to his room. a sense of unease hung in the air as a shadow danced between the gnarled trees....