CRACK! Dalla cracked her shoulder, approaching Arad, “But I have to say, you put too much power into your attacks.”

“More power is always better,” Arad replied, looking at his hand. “The more power you pour into an attack, the higher the damage and the more likely to kill an enemy.”

“That isn’t always the case,” Dalla opened her palms, “The world is cruel out there. Especially at the higher end, you’re either fighting someone far weaker than you or someone that can kill you with one hit.”

“I certainly saw that,” Arad remembered all the times that he almost got killed, “They keep popping out,”

“Everyone picks the fights they are sure to win. You’re new and aren’t considering that. That’s why you end up pitted against them.” She smiled, “You don’t know when to run or when to retreat or give up.”

“I know when to run,” Arad glared at her.

“No, you don’t. If you did, you would have run away from Grant.” Dalla approached Arad. “I like that, we’re alike,”

“You don’t when to run away?” Arad glared at her.

“I don’t like to run. I’m the honey badger of the s-ranks. And the weakest one stat-wise. My stats are even lower than most A-ranks,” She lifted her hand, pulling a potion from her pocket and drinking it.

“Is that so? From the last hit, you seemed to have quite a bit of strength.” Arad glared at her, tensioning his muscles as he could feel she was about to attack again.

“I’m weaker than you by a lot.” She smiled, “Cerilla, you play with the rest. I will entertain Arad for a bit,”

“Ordering the queen around,” Cerilla sighed.

“I’m the ruler in training, don’t forget that.” Dalla stared at her with a grin.

“Wait,” Arad glared at Dalla, “What are you two talking about?” He could feel the queen getting ready to attack Aella and the rest.

“Look at me. I’m the one you’re fighting.” Arad froze in place, seeing Dalla’s hand flying toward his face.

^Shit!^ He instinctively lifted his arm, taking the hit on his forearm. CRACK! The skin ripped from over his muscles, sending a sharp agonizing pain across his spine.

CLAP! CLAP! As he got distracted by the pain, he felt two more hits on his side, causing him to vomit in agony, barely able to see. ^My head is spinning. I don’t know where the pain is coming from, only that it…^ He puked again.

SWOSH! His ears picked on the wind trailing after Dalla’s fourth swing, causing his body to react out of fear, lunging sideways and jumping out of the window.

^Mom! Doma! What is this? What’s she doing?^

^Usally when an arm is torn off, you lose sensation to it and only feel pain at the stub where it got severed. What her attacks are doing is crushing your skin with all the nerves in it, just enough so they remain alive, and sending pain signals.^

Your attack earlier broke her arm and sent her flying, but her nerves got crushed, so she wasn’t in pain for long before the place started feeling numb. You used too much force. Try attacking with higher speed but lower strength.

CLACK! CLACK! CLACK! As Arad looked at the window, he could see Dalla jumping from it and running down the wall like it was nothing.

BAM! Arad landed on the ground, easily tanking the fall as Dalla used a tree to break her fall.

“Who said I wanted to train with you?” Arad growled at her, clenching his fist.

“I said it,” Dalla rushed at him, swinging her palm at his face.

Arad open his mouth, charging a fire breath as fast as he could.

SLAP! Dalla slapped Arad’s neck, sending an imaginable pain toward his throat muscles, forcing them to clench shut.

Arad’s lungs flashed red as the raging flame exploded inside, causing his chest to expand like a ball.

“When you feel pain, your muscles tense in an attempt to endure the damage. That’s a natural reaction that you can use,” Dalla swung her hand at Arad’s chest.

CRACK! Arad bent backward, sending a kick toward Dalla’s guts.

Dalla shifted her attack, pulling her hand back and swinging at the sole of Arad’s foot. CRACK! The hit ripped Arad’s steel boots clean off, tearing the skin from his foot and sending him screaming.

“Feet are really sensitive. Imagine the pain of hitting your toe, a thousand times shooting through your bones,” She looked at Arad’s face, “Sorry, you don’t need to imagine. You’re already feeling it,”

Arad pointed his hand at her, Gravity Magic

^If she doesn’t have a lot of strength, I only need to crush her.^ Arad smiled inside, hoping she would just drop dead.

CRACK! Blood gushed out of Dalla’s ears as she felt her knees about to crack. Her vision blackened as the blood went down to her legs. In a second, her head dropped to the ground, jaw first.

At the impact, she regained her consciousness, seeing Arad recoiling from stepping on his injured foot. Even after healing, his brain couldn’t get rid of the fear of stepping on it.

Dalla clenched her teeth and crawled across the ground, tearing her maid apron as she made it out of Arad’s gravity magic.

BAM! The moment she was out, she stood, lunging at Arad again.

Arad saw her charge at him, “Didn’t you lose consciousness?” He cried, lifting his palm and unleashing a blast of lightning.

Thud! Dalla ducked beneath the attack, swinging her palm at Arad’s arm. CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! Three hits were all she needed to shut his magic off, “To control magic, a person relies on feedback transferred by their nerves. If I overload them with pain, they can even lose the ability to use magic as long as the pain keeps going.” She smiled, hitting Arad with a slap on the chest, causing him to stop breathing.

CRACK! Arad swung his palm, catching her by the neck, and growled, “I caught you,” he started squeezing, trying to rip her head off.

CREEK! Dalla dropped her pain shows, swinging her foot up and hitting Arad in the jewels, knocking him out.

CRACK! Arad’s massive body fell back, motionless like a corpse.

Thud! Dalla fell to her knees, gasping for air. But her airways were crushed by Arad’s grip. She pulled a healing potion from her pocket and poured it on her body, healing herself enough to swallow the second one.

BA-dump! Ba-dump! She could hear Arad’s heart beating like drums. He wasn’t done yet. “I fought people who died of pain with a single slap. How much have you endured?” She said with a pained smile.

Thud! Dalla saw Arad’s arm suddenly point at her.

BAM! Her eyes burst with blood, and she couldn’t see. “What?” Dalla gasped.

Ting! As if time stopped, Dalla could feel Arad’s hand touching her cheek, he was slapping her as Hard as he could. She countered immediately. She slapped him in the face as best as she could.

SLAP! SLAP! The two slapped each other at almost the same time.

CRACK! Arad’s palm ripped Dalla’s lower jaw off, while her slap shook his brain, tearing the skin off his face.

Thud! Thud! The two fell at the same time, and the guards who were in the back rushed in to check on them.

As the guards checked on them, their faces paled.

“The headmaid is dying, she lost a lot of blood, and her bones are crumbling,” The guard cried, “What about him?”

The other two checked on Arad, and then looked at each other, “No pulse, he’s dead.”

The third guard stared down at Dalla, “How many slaps did he survive from her?”

“That last one to the face must have fried his brain.” Another guard stood, “Forget about him. Let’s focus on saving her life.”

As they tried to pour healing potions on Dalla’s body, Arad stood behind them, cracking his neck, “Damn it, that’s why I told you to run,” A strange voice came from his body.

The guards glared back at him, “You aren’t dead?”

“Your castle would have crumbled had I died” Arad glared at them, “Move away,” He extended his arm toward Dalla, Curse of Regeneration “Healing!”

Dalla’s body regenerated, and she woke up immediately, seeing Arad staring at her.

“What happened?”

Arad didn’t reply and instead closed his eyes, “FINE! I WON’T KILL HER!” He suddenly shouted, glaring at Dalla and panting. He wasn’t dead, only unconscious. The guards couldn’t feel his pulse since his heart is hidden deep within his void.

Dalla barely managed to stand, “I slapped you in the face. How did you stand back up?”

“My brain extends all the way through my spine,” Arad replied, “I was only unconscious as my brain regenerated using my spinal cord as a backup.” .

“So it’s my loss,” Dalla looked down, “Health, regeneration, and endurance are all parts of a person’s power. I lost in everything,”