Raze stood in the forest, looking at the two constructs he'd spent the last few days building since returning to the town. One was made of wood, an artificial waterfall setup with a sloped gutter designed to dump heavy, high, pressure water into a dug out basin. The second was a cube shaped house made entirely of stone, with a small metal door sealed onto its front.

Elaine stood behind him with raised brows. Ella too. Both stared, completely unable to guess what these bizarre structures were supposed to be.

"What is this supposed to be?" Elaine finally asked.

"For my training," Raze said proudly, smiling like this was perfectly normal.

Their confusion doubled. "How?" Elaine dragged out the question.

Raze grinned. "Simple. The wooden one has a water formation at the top. The stone one has a heating formation inside. One creates high, pressure, freezing water to crash down on me. The other heats up the inside of that cube to intense temperatures."

He said it like it was the most reasonable thing in the world.

Ella blinked. "I hope you know that none of what you just said explains anything."

"Yeah," Elaine added, "I think I'm even more confused now."

Raze sighed and took a breath. "Fine. The water pressure is supposed to temper my body, drain it, push it, force it to adapt. And the heat inside that stone house will help in a different way. Basically, both are meant to harden my body like steel."

"You're made of flesh," Ella said flatly. "You will burn. And then you'll be crushed by the water."

Raze waved it off. "No, no, it's not like that. There's a limit to what my body can take, sure, but if I stop just before I cross the limit, I can slowly raise what that limit is. Increase my durability. Build my body's dexterity."

He paused, then added quietly,

'And… I need this for the Yin-Yang Sword Technique. I need to refine my flame qi and my water qi, yang and yin, or I'll never be able to use the technique properly. I've been putting it off for a while, but after my spar with Sophia… after seeing how weak I really am… I can't ignore it anymore."

He looked at the two structures with determined eyes, he was definitely going yo get stronger, he didn't want anyone bossing him around at all.

[... ]

An old man could be seen inside a dark room, whimpering, shaking, fighting against himself like something was about to burst out of him. He struggled, but whatever it was, it was winning. And then suddenly, the door of the room opened.

A lady stood there, eyes wide. She immediately tried to rush in. "Father!" she cried out.

But he lifted his hand immediately, screaming, "STOP!"

His voice resounded, having a second voice behind it, like a monster. His eyes glowed red. She froze in shock.

"Don't come any closer… please…" he said, almost tearful.

He struggled against himself a while longer. She tried to step forward again, but he roared a second time. Then, forcing the words out through that monstrous voice, he spoke:

"Please… run… please…"

She had been out of town for a few days, only to return and hear people telling her that her father hadn't come out of the house for days. She rushed in, only to see this. She stood frozen in fear, unsure of what to do.

That fear cost her.

His body fully began transforming, bones popping, muscles twisting, until he became a full black ape-like monster with twisted muscles and glowing red eyes. An abomination.

She stepped back slowly, shivering.

He swung his hand, slamming into the wall and shattering it. The debris blasted into her and threw her back, cutting her skin and leaving bruises.

It let out another roar that shook the entire house, then moved in her direction.

Finally, she reacted. She got up and ran, sprinting out of the house and into the street. The abomination burst through the house right after her. Instantly, panic erupted. Everyone began running in all directions, terrified.

A man wasn't fast enough. The abomination grabbed him, slammed his head into the ground, and shattered his skull, blood pooling instantly.

It looked up, spotted the lady, and began chasing.

She tripped on a stone and fell. It leaped, claws raised, ready to tear through her, when a bolt of compressed lightning slammed into its head, knocking it back several meters and saving her life.

She looked up and saw who had helped her.

Five figures stood there.

A young lady dressed in mage robes, staff stretched out—the one who cast the spell.

Two sword-wielders, a lady and a man, both in armor.

A massive muscular man with a huge shield and a single-edged greatsword.

And a man in white mace robes, the healer.

An adventurer party. And they had just entered the town when they saw the chaos.

"Let's take it down," the man with the sword said. He looked at the mage. "Give us a barrier."

The abomination lunged at them. The mage lifted her staff and cast the spell, forming a lightning barrier.

It slammed into the barrier and was shocked by several bolts, collapsing for a moment.

Instantly the two swordsmen flanked it from both sides, rushing in fast. They thrust their blades deep into its shoulders, pinning it down.

The muscular man lunged forward next, shield raised. He slammed the abomination's head into the ground, then followed with a massive chop, splitting its head clean in two.

The lady whimpered when she saw the person who used to be her father get killed.

The party thought it was over, but before they could catch their breath, explosions rang out across the town.

More screams.

More twisting bodies.

More abominations formed right before their eyes.

The spread of the demonic energy had grown faster than expected, and this town was one of the few tp suffer this Escalation.

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