Marina often visited the site with a box of sweets. She sat on the bench and silently watched the fight. She understood absolutely nothing in the battles. Yet, she was impressed when the boy pinned her belligerent friend on the floor. Sometimes she clumsily clapped her hands that made Juno blush with humiliation. She apologized to her later, completely confused.

Kyon was tactful enough not to beat Juno at Marina's presence. He'd "promised" to be gentle with her, after all.

When it was time to restore their energy, Juno asked the master with her eyes to give her freedom in the conversation. He whispered to her she could behave in accordance with the code 2. She was free to chat with Marina as much as could be within reasonable limits, of course.

He was not interested in the girls' careless chat. Yet, one thing was clear from their communication: even if the lady was kind and gentle with her friend, according to some unspoken agreement, the last word was always hers. It hadn't stopped the two girls with so different personalities from getting close and becoming best friends. Marina knew her place, and Juno never went too far. Sometimes she glared at the master who was getting the attention of her friend. She was trying to create a wall between the guy and her friend and got nowhere. Once Kyon kissed Marina goodbye on the cheek. Juno was furious. She intervened and pulled them apart. Probably, she would be very upset if she found out that the boy had long occupied a very important place in Marina's heart.

The training continued.

With every pa.s.sing day, Kyon wanted more and more to bring Juno to a nervous breakdown, to break or even destroy her morale. He had failed to do it before, but now he had everything he needed.

If she gave up, he had a chance to make her more reverent and submissive. He might rehabilitate her and maybe even get rid of her disregard for the lower cla.s.ses of society. Her natural arrogance, especially towards him, drove him mad. There is a cruel method to control people. It's called "learned helplessness." It could work on Juno. He was once sure if he beat her continuously and dragged her through the dirt she would commit suicide. Today he was not so certain anymore. She had an unquenchable hope of getting her keys cleaned and the dream of becoming extremely talented to surpa.s.s her sister. It made sense to torture her until she gave up, until she entered the state of "learned helplessness." He liked the idea.

He liked even more the news that he had reached the advanced grade of the earth element. His eyes flashed with excitement. During the fight, the boy started carrying out various experiments. He added some beautiful gems to the collection of matter that he could create. However, their value was slightly above average. He could also create some metals with simple molecular lattice and, more importantly, he could make an improved version of adamantium, the final version created by the best scientists of his world. It was slightly different in the structure which made it stronger by 50% than the stripped-down version. But Kyon wasn't satisfied. He failed to create carbon armour-skin. Diamonds, emeralds, super-strong metal alloys were beyond his power. Anyway, adamantium was the strongest. But he was sure when he got the superior grade of earth he'd be able to create the carbon skin, at the very least. He had some doubts about diamonds but it was only the beginning.

The next morning, the seventh by number (the party took place the next day), just before the training, Kyon asked Juno to take off her tight-fitting sweats.h.i.+rt.

The girl protested, red in the face. But she had to obey the formation. The snow-white bra and her beautiful waist were on full display.

Kyon studied the huge bruises and contusions on her body with a thoughtful look. He drove his finger over the marks, scanning them with Synergy. He'd confirmed the idea that the ointment worked worse when used too often. If the doctor had not received the order to remain silent under the threat of losing his head there would have been problems.

Because of her injuries. the girl lost effectiveness. Kyon had to use Synergy for her speedy recovery. He did not want to train with a girl weakened from wounds.

Juno shuddered at his touch, squinted her eyes, stretched her slender body. A strange pleasant feeling spread in the places he touched. She vowed that she would kill herself if that feeling meant she liked the servant.

Soon their training continued.

At noon, Kyon reached the long-awaited 7th stage, much to his delight. The party was the next day. Oh, if it were not for the Soaring Angel pill given to him by Yegorka, he would never have managed to get to the 7th stage. And yet, he had to find the hard way the closer to the peak of the phase, the more difficult it was to develop the soul.

At the same time, all of his physical parameters, as well as the concentration of elemental energy, had increased. His body became tougher, faster and stronger. The fire element got hotter, the cold element got colder, the streams of water, wind, darkness and light got more intensive, the adamantium got stronger, the electricity got more powerful and of course, he had even more pure energy.

Juno could feel his upgrade by the energy fluctuations.

«Master... Your apprentice congratulates you.» – Juno quietly congratulated him and bowed slightly with a smile on her face... A bitter smile. The same raging envy was boiling inside her. She wanted to fall on her knees and curl up in a pretzel, hugging herself.

{Why... am I... Trash… Compared to him...? I'm not like that!}

Kyon grinned maliciously.

«My apprentice seems to get elevated from the rank "mediocrity" to the rank "sc.u.m." What a pity! So sad! The master begins to doubt his decision to take you as his student…»

The slave girl exclaimed indignantly:

«Master, don't say that! I am still…»

«You're p.i.s.sing me off.» – Kyon snapped coldly. – «We've been fighting for six days but you've never lasted longer than 15 of my movements, you've never hit me. Even a piece of s.h.i.+t would have improved their skills by now and you have failed.» - The boy was lying brazenly.

«Master…» - Juno was about to cry again. When it came to her power, any criticism hit home. Furthermore, the guy beat her with great zeal. Her whole body had been numb with pain for a long time. The sprout in her soul required more and more food but she couldn't deserve it, that is, hit the monster at least once. Anyone in her place would have cried or given up but she persevered. And now he compared her with a piece of s.h.i.+t. It hurt... It hurt a lot… She wanted to give up in despair. She could hardly stand his presence. That monster adversely affected her self-esteem.

«Shut up and either go cry to your room and don't bother me anymore or fight. I can't stand your whining.»

Juno lowered her head, her lips quivering.

Kyon couldn't wait to see the girl break right in front of his eyes but against his desire she slowly looked up, her eyes full of firm determination:

«Master, it's part of the training, isn't it? Otherwise, you have to be a sick a.s.shole to compare the lord of all elements with a weak girl!»

Kyon thoughtfully rubbed his chin, nodding to her words, then he imperiously snapped his fingers:

«Attack!»

Juno rushed headlong into battle. However, her mood quickly reached the depths of the seabed. As soon as she got closer to Kyon, he beat her in 3-5 movements. Each time, the expression of neglect on his pretty face hurt her more and more. She could hardly find the strength to continue the battle. No one can bang their head up against the metal wall for a long time.

Her hard work had been rewarded by the end of the day. In the evening she reached the seventh stage! At that very moment, the girl jumped screaming with joy. All her pain and humiliation, that had reached a critical point by then, vanished into thin air. Her smile was s.h.i.+ning brighter than the sun. She felt so happy she wanted to burst into tears.

Kyon silently watched her glee.

Juno was gloriously happy. She looked at the master with a smile, about to boast of her news, when his silhouette blurred, and then a sharp pain spread from her stomach to every point of her body. She'd missed another heavy blow.

{What…} – Her head swam, she tumbled and rolled on the ground, breathing coa.r.s.ely. Her delight had disappeared, depression and unbearable pain came in its place. What happened? Was she seeing things or did the master pa.s.sed several meters in an instant? He must have used a clever trick. What a monster is he? He can't be a human being... He didn't even congratulate her on the upgrade but started beating her right away.

«You're an idiot. How many times do I have to tell you that you can't relax during the fight? Even if you find out that I've knocked you up, try to hold back your wild joy or your opponent will take advantage of that.»

Juno looked at the master through the veil of pain. He was towering above her like an immortal warrior from the legends. Then she stood up coughing frantically, holding her stomach, her knees bending.

«I'm sorry, Master... I don't know how it could happen…»

«Never mind.» – Kyon smiled charmingly. He liked to some extent Juno's new-acquired habit of talking to him respectfully even if it was a mere precaution not to make him even angrier.

The boy's silhouette blurred again.

* boop *

The girl felt the familiar sharp pain and there she was rolling on the ground again, coughing even harder. {What's happening?! He's tricked me again?! No... Just don't tell me...} - At that brief moment, she saw the boy rush forward and deliver her another blow as if he wasn't real.

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Juno couldn't believe her guess and yet, she tried to rise. It hurt to look at her. Her whole body was wounded and beaten but she stubbornly stood up, a bright flame of unbending will burning in her eyes.

Kyon might have been touched by that pathetic scene more suitable for some old martial arts film if he did not know the true essence of the little devil.

He was more impressed by the idea that he was now moving five times faster than before he used pure energy. In fact, his speed reached the level of an average pract.i.tioner with the development of exactly one stage above his!

He'd been experimenting with multifaceted pure energy for more than six days. He'd been testing countless options on his own body. He'd extracted the best details from every successful experiment, mixed them, looked for connections, combinations, "synergized" them... And there it was the perfect formula giving an explosive advantage in speed. He was firmly convinced there was no better movement technique. He got into the spirit of pure energy and understood its principle like no one else. His sense of perfectionism was completely and utterly satisfied. Finally, he'd achieved perfection once again. He had a stream of 900, he could bend 9 elements, and now he'd mastered the movement technique. He a.s.signed it an "S" rank which is the ceiling by the local standards. He decided not to name it as he had no intention to teach it to anyone nor give the recipe for creating adamantium.

It is worth mentioning that he'd gained additional power for his blows together with the speed. A quick fist will always be stronger than a slow one. But still, pure energy provides more input than simple inertia.

To sum it up, his technique of movements surpa.s.ses any other by a whole stage (taking into account the fact that he bends pure energy). It was the G.o.d-like, explosive, unfathomable result. That's the kind of perfection the guy wanted to achieve.

Juno had a really bad feeling about all that. She got to her feet with great effort and carefully looked at the boy who was three meters away from her. She was ready for any trick.

Suddenly, he blurred in her eyes and there she was lying on the ground yet again like a wounded kitten gasping for air. She was sure there was no trick that time... The master used his speed and crushed her as a cheetah triumphed over a fox. She didn't have a single chance. The girl had a feeling he'd always pretended to be a wolf in sheep's clothing. {He's a monster... A monster!}

Kyon laughed when he saw his apprentice slowly creep away from him.

The girl decided to run away (she'd had enough of tortures) but he grabbed her by the collar and dragged her back as if he was a maniac and she was his unfortunate victim.

«Well, well, baby. I am not done with you yet.»

Juno looked at the monstrosity frightening her with his talent and strength.

«You... you are a monster! You are too strong for me! I am not training with you! I don't want to feel unbearable pain anymore without a single chance to learn from you at least something! You never give in! You are a ruthless s.a.d.i.s.t, not a master. Let me go!»

«I? I never give in? If I had never given in I would have done like this!»

*bang*

A spark of lightning, equal to the 2nd stage of the advanced phase flashed from the boy's hand and hit Juno in the neck.

A shock distorted the girl's face, her arms and legs quivered, her body limped but the hand holding the collar of her jacket did not let her fall.

Kyon grinned but then he noticed clear liquid slowly drip down the girl's leg.

He winced theatrically and was about to arrange demonstrative spanking but then he looked at Juno's rolled eyes and realized that he had gone too far. She'd pa.s.sed out.

Reluctantly, he carried her to the bench and carefully laid her down. Juno fell to one side, right on his shoulder, weakened, defenseless and cute, light as a feather...

Kyon held his breath. Suddenly, his heart went right through his feet. Right at that compromising moment, the gates treacherously creaked.