Novel Full Chapter 628 - 628 References. References Everywhere.
Kat's memories of Day 7, 8 and 9 had her facing off against increasingly stronger and more technically proficient versions of the boy she'd faced on Day 6. For some reason Kat didn't understand, every day his hair got longer and spikier and his sword got a little larger even though he wasn't any taller. Kat didn't know what to make of those changes, though Lily had suspicions.
Day 10 brought out a new character, this time it was a large hulking man with no visible weapons. 'He' was a massive 214cm tall (7 feet) with chest hair that looked a little bit like a lotus, and scars everywhere. 'His' head was shaved into a short Mohawk and Kat considered his beard to be quite impressive. It was a little strange that he only wore red underwear and nothing else but Kat didn't ever got long to worry about it. Mai didn't bother starting off weak after the 9th day and started fighting at 'full' strength straight away.
Day 10's fighter always moved to stay up close and personal with Kat, trying to catch her with heavy punches or grabs and throws. All of Mai's attacks in this form were massively telegraphed, they had to be when the body was so large both in height and width alongside the massive muscles. Quite often though, it didn't exactly help Kat. She learnt the hard way that despite her demonic strength there were things tougher then her. Kat knew that before but… she hadn't expected a human looking figure to be so much stronger.
Day 11 featured another fighter that didn't have any weapons. They had a large cross scar like Day 10's fighter, but this one was across the chest. This new person was actually around Kat's height with an open red shirt and baggy blue shorts with white edging. For some reason they had a straw hat on their head that Mai removed immediately before starting to attack.
Kat wanted to complain about the 'no powers' rule because Mai in this new form was constantly stretching her arms and legs out to land extra hits when she could. This was balanced by the fact that Mai was constantly shouting THE NAMES OF HER ATTACKS out which really did help with dodging them most of the time. They were also the toughest fighter so far, in the literal sense. Kat slammed multiple full strength smacks with the edge of her closed fan to almost no effect. In the end, Kat was pretty sure she only 'won' those fights by outlasting Mai in that form, and it took HOURS. They were late for dinner on Day 11.
Day 12 featured an average size, or perhaps slightly short girl. She was a big departure from the previous days. Where as all the other figures looked somewhat weathered, this new one was clearly a younger girl. Kat thought she looked like a cross between little red riding hood and a vampire hunter… and also sort of felt like an energetic version of Lily for some reason. Lily agreed while watching the flashback. Neither could figure out why. Oh… there was also the GIANT SCYTHE twice as tall as this new form was.
Kat had never felt so slow in her life. Mai used this form to run circles around her and force Kat to use more defensive stances and learn to track fast moving foes without relying on slowing her mind down with demonic energy. Kat's eyes were also opened by seeing how Mai was using the scythe not just to attack, which she did a LOT, but also using it as a way to move around the battlefield constantly changing the way she was moving to keep Kat on her toes.
Day 13 seemed like a nice rest day. Mai was nowhere to be found and Major… er… Shizuka, was available to hang out with. Enuko had made herself scarce as well, so the girls had just spent a nice morning hanging out in the garden. They were having a small picnic when a hydra just showed up in next to them.
Massive teeth, glowing red eyes, the size of two busses stacked together with legs as thick as tree trunks and a tail that could nearly count as its own giant creature just appeared right next to them. This became an impromptu lesson in teamwork and co-ordination.
After chopping off the first head to reveal blue goop that quickly sprouted into two more heads, Kat realised this was Mai. That also lead her to realising that Mai was consistently attacking harder and faster whenever she went for Kat. This was even clearer with two heads.
It quickly became a mess, because once Kat realised it was Mai she stopped using her demonic fire to attack and things just went downhill from there. Mai regularly baited the pair into taking off a head, or if they left one overly injured the other heads would just rip it off so that two more could grow. By the time Shizuka collapsed from exhaustion Mai had over fifty heads and Kat was doing all she could just to keep Shizuka safe from most of them.
It was at this point Kat realised that Mai was REALLY strong. Sure Kat hadn't been using her demonic fire to even the odds, but the sheer size of the hydra really hit home that Mai could do creative things with her powers. While Enuko was strong, but semi-retired, it was clear Mai had never stopped and was easily the more powerful of the two now.
After the hydra from Day 13, Kat almost wanted to laugh at her opponent on Day 14. She didn't and would be thankful for that fact shortly. For that was the issue. Her next opponent was short. They were of stocky build and fit the idea of a 'dwarf' perfectly. They had a long braided orange beard and what looked like fine chainmail armour and a double sided axe. Kat would quickly learn the power of the short.
In Kat's mind, it was both strangely similar yet different to fighting her opponent from Day 10. Mai's knew form was all about getting up close and personal, like Day 10, but the difference was instead of abusing the additional power and mass, they abused their power and height. Constantly going for awkward places on her body like her knees and shins, forcing Kat to actually start flying around to combat them. Mai cackled like a madwomen and asked why Kat hadn't been flying before. When Kat's response was 'I thought we were fighting on the ground' Mai responded by asking if it took demonic energy to fly.
Day 15 was ariel combat. This was a day where Mai simply matched Kat's form, though with larger wings to allow for flight. Mai did grumble about that fact a little bit but wasn't willing to push the issue, especially when Kat asked Mai where the extra mass she clearly had when pretending to be a hydra went. They agreed to just ignore these things.
Sadly, Kat didn't exactly learn much this day. Mai lacked practice in flight and what really hit hard was the lack of instincts Kat seemed to possess. Kat could fly circles around Mai before lunch time, and while Mai still put up a decent fight with superior technique and her own set of fans, it wasn't enough to compare with Kat's instinctual control of the air. That was the end of flying lessons.
Day 16 Kat spent wondering if the whole day was dedicated to making sure she wasn't getting a big head. Lily struggle greatly to watch this day of training, though not for reasons you might expect. Mai decided to show Kat a more stereo typical look at hell.
Mai had altered Kat's form slightly to include black hair and red skin as well as changing up the proportions quite a bit. The only reason Kat knew it was based on her at all was the fact Mai kept her outfit which looked to be straining valiantly to contain Mai's new 'assets'. The moment Kat saw the whip in Mai's right hand she just sighed and accepted her fate. It was a moderately painful (so basically your average Tuesday for Kat) barrage of whip strikes, and choke holds that followed.
Occasionally Kat would find herself completely bound with just a few flicks of Mai's wrist, something that made Kat rethink her stance on not using whips as it seemed quite useful. Kat's lack of reaction always seemed to confuse Mai. Kat didn't know why, but the fact Lily was struggling to stay in the memory instead of just letting it break before retreating to her own fantasy seemed to indicate Lily DID know.
Day 17 was the final day and Mai picked… what looked like an ordinary schoolgirl. She had bigger than normal eyes and short blue hair that would look black in the right lighting. Kat was confused about what the lesson was today until Mai pulled out a massive hammer. Where the hammer came from. She didn't know.. She also would not learn, as that was when she was called away to meet Lily.