Maybe this isn’t such a good idea…

Amara stopped in the middle of the corridor of curved mirrors and crossed her arms.

The angels aren't allowed to help me directly, which includes sparring. If I one-sidedly choose to attack them though...that should be fine. 

However...they will probably not take too kindly to it. But if Ezme is right about Alarice, then it just confirms the angels won’t kill me. And because of what Sophelia said, it’s unlikely they’ll beat me up too much...in the event I get beat up. It’s possible that Alarice is the only one that would even bother. 

Amara leaned against the wall, making the backplate of her armor clank as it made contact with the reflective surface. Although she didn’t need armor to fight with the help of Divine Body Strengthening and Divine Regeneration, it wouldn’t stop her clothes from taking a beating.  

As a result, Amara had ended up commissioning the armorsmiths on Ramay with Ezme’s help to make her a set of armor. Thanks to her strength it wouldn’t wear her out in the relatively short bouts she had with kidnapped demons. But she still favoured comfort and mobility, so her design choice ended up similar to what some adventurers used, with plate covering her upper body and most of her limbs, while other parts were covered with leather.

Once she received the finished set, Amara had enchanted them with divine enchantments for durability. The armor ended up being among the first items with enchantments she had practical use of, together with her weapons. They too had mostly been enchanted with durability or strong edge, as Amara was simply too strong compared to her opponents in melee combat for other enchantments to be needed.

Amara tapped the steel covering her arms with her gloved finger as she fell into thought.

Yes...it’s more accurate to say that Alarice is at the extreme. It’s not like every angel is going to hate me as much as her, right? They might even consider it a harmless, annoying prank. If I’m lucky.

If I’m unlucky...well, Sophelia wants me to survive this whole armistice crap. I'll have to count on her help if things go bad. She can’t expect me to survive if I don’t get to improve and let myself go all-out. Amin might be an ass, but at least he’s right about that point.

Amara sighed and pushed herself away from the wall. Come on, Amara! What’s the worst that could happen?

...Let’s hope I didn’t raise a flag.

Walking down the corridor, Amara received the usual disdainful glances by the angels she met. Most of them she immediately discarded as candidates without even trying to use appraisal on them. Even if she got the impression most of them didn’t despise her to the same degree as Alarice did, she got the vibe that they were so far out of her league that she wouldn’t even get a chance at training.

After losing track of how long she had been looking without finding someone that fit the bill, Amara gave up. I guess I’ll just try some again some other-

[Krrck!]

[Ding!]

Looking down the corridors as she rounded the corner in the intersection, Amara collided with someone. After healing her broken nose, Amara looked up to meet the eyes of a skinny angel with grey hair that looked at her with an annoyed expression. “Watch where you’re going, mortal. Or is that beyond your capabilities?”

Despite the insult, Amara’s face broke out into a grin. That was because out of all the angels she had seen today, he looked the most promising.

Still, I won’t know how strong he is without appraising-

“Is something amusing?” The angel asked without bothering to hide his annoyance. “Or did your brain get damaged?”

...Screw it.

“Oh, nothing.” Amara suppressed her wicked intentions from showing in her smile as she waved her hand. “I just thought I should tell you that you got something on your face.”

“On my...face?” The angel frowned in confusion and raised his hand to touch his cheek. “Where?”

“Oh, right there.” Amara smiled as she took a step closer and pointed at his nose.

The angel rubbed the tip of his nose with his fingers before looking at her reaction. “Is it gone?”

“Not yet.” Amara gave a friendly smile as she stepped closer. “Let me get it for you!”

The angel’s face reddened as he stepped back. “T-there’s no nee-”

Amara clenched her fist as she made a moderate amount of divine power flow through her. Divine Punch!

[Krrck!]

The angel’s eyes widened in realization moments before the fist struck his face. Staggering back after the impact, he held his nose while blood escaped between his fingers as he glared at Amara hatefully. “Y-you-! Just what do you think you’re doing?!” 

“Oh, that’s much better now.” Amara let out a dramatic sigh with a grin. Moving her hand to her hip she drew her sword from its sheath and shrugged. “But now there’s blood everywhere...don’t worry, I got just the thing!”

The angel’s eyes widened before he straightened himself up and held out his hand in the air. A moment later, a halberd that looked exactly like Ezme’s appeared in the air. Gripping it tightly while glaring at Amara with gritted teeth, he snarled. “Y-you-! Shameless! This-! Betrayal! Betrayal!!”

“Betrayal?” Amara smiled innocently and tilted her head as she approached and raised her sword while focusing her divine power into the weapon. “Whatever do you mean? I’m just helping you!” 

Divine Body Strengthening! Durability!

Bringing down her sword with both hands, Amara was both surprised and unsurprised at the outcome. She was unsurprised because as expected, the angel raised his halberd and blocked the strike with the handle of his halberd.

What surprised her however, on an instinctive level, was how the angel didn’t budge despite the amount of divine power she used to strengthen her strike. Of course she knew that the angel had more divine power and was stronger than her, but any time she had done the same in the past, none of her opponents had managed to withstand the force of her blow.

Yes...FINALLY!

Amara followed up her initial blow with several consecutive strikes, and soon realized she was grinning with excitement. The angel’s expression on the other hand, became more and more distressed and annoyed by the moment. 

[Ding!]

Yes! My pool of divine power has grown beyond what I can use for the skill, so the higher the skill becomes, the more divine power I can-

“Have you gone mad?!” The angel exclaimed in anger during the pause while Amara recharged her divine power from the prayers. “Stop this instant! Do you really-”

Explosive Decompression!

“UAAH!” (?)

Amara grinned and charged through the mist that appeared with a bang. The angel was getting back up as Amara appeared through the evaporating cloud and brought her sword down once again.

[Clang!]

The angel blocked the strike as before; holding back the blow with one hand as he was pushing himself up with the other. Glancing at his face, Amara could see the anger overflowing in his eyes. 

That’s right. Get serious!

Beating his wings forcefully, the angel got up and pushed Amara back in a single, fluid motion. Amara staggered backwards until she regained her balance, well out of range of each other’s weapons as they glared at each other.

“Do you really think that your actions will go unpunished, mortal?” The angel snarled between his gritted teeth. 

Amara tilted her head with a grin. “Will I really be punished?”

“Of course you will!” The angel retorted. “We will not let this betrayal stand!”

“But why?” Amara smiled wryly as she lowered her stance and slowly circled the angel while getting closer. “It’s not like I’m trying to kill you.”

The angel frowned in confusion. Seemingly realizing why Amara was attacking him, he snorted. “I’m not your sparring partner. Nor would I be even if we were allowed.”

“You’re right, you’re not.” Amara grinned as she prepared herself to lunge. “You’re my punching bag!”

“You-!” (?)

Interrupting the angel by thrusting her sword as quickly as she could, Amara aimed for his shoulder. Before the tip even got close, the angel swiped his halberd to deflect the blow - and deliver one of his own.

Without any time to react, Amara registered the pain in her ribs as the end of the halberd’s handle struck her and sent her flying down the corridor. Gritting her teeth against the stabs of pain when she skidded along the floor, she activated her divine power.

Divine Regeneration!

As her ribs healed, the pain suddenly increased. Realizing that her armor had a dent that prevented it from healing properly, Amara quickly got her hand down to open the latches and lift the armor plate.

Letting out a sigh of relief as the pain disappeared when her wounds finally healed, Amara got up and refastened her armor the best she could. Looking down the corridor, she saw that the angel was watching her with a complicated look.

Damn, he’s strong. Even for a small fry...he's a small fry, right?

Amara chuckled as she thought that her suspicions were correct and pushed herself up. “What’s the matter? Could it be that you can’t attack me?”

The angel frowned in frustration and muttered. “I see I was worried for no reason.” He let out a sigh before he pointed at Amara with his weapon. “Your insolence knows no-”

Invisibility!

As Amara vanished from view, the angel’s frown deepened. He took a few steps back before he spread his wings. 

A gust of wind passed Amara as the angel disappeared from the corridor. Turning around to look towards the other end of the corridor, she confirmed that the angel indeed had left. 

Nawh. We were only getting started!

Amara let out a sigh and put her sword back into its sheath. Seeing the size of the dent in her armor, she drew her fingers over the bent surface. Guess I’ll have to get it repaired.

Or maybe I should try repairing it myself? I guess I could try and make a divine skill for it...it would be more useful to forge my own tools.

And I wouldn’t need to rob treasuries for gold to cover the cost either. I’d just need to steal the materials.

Amara frowned as she felt somewhat annoyed at having to spend time on repairs. Looks like not keeping the enchantments up for my armor from the beginning was a mistake.

Although…I need to regenerate and save my divine power as often as possible. At the moment, it only takes a few seconds to refill my pool from the prayers. But as the total grows, it means I’ll need more and longer breaks. Only way to counter it would be to get fast and strong enough to keep up with an angel. 

Or make my gear have their own supply of divine power. I still don’t know how to do that, but I should be able to learn how to do it with mana at level fifty. Once I learn to do that, maybe I’ll get some insight on how to do it with divine power as well.

Practising against the demons over the years had come with a revelation that seemed like a significant setback. Although Amara was able to wield both mana and divine power, she couldn’t do it simultaneously. Whenever she would activate one of the two, the other would go dormant - and trying to force them to work together would trigger a painful backlash. This meant that if she chose to fight with divine power, then for simplicity, any enchanted items she fought with would need to be fueled by divine power as well - unless the enchantments were either permanent or had their own powersource.

Status.

Just two levels away. I should try and get some extra training in...although I probably won’t reach fifty by the time the summit begins, it would be good if I did. I should be able to make an even fancier magic weapon than the ones I already have made once I do, and the summit would be a good time to present them. 

Well, at least it seems like nothing’s stopping me from using angels as punching bags. I just have to be careful about picking them.

 

_______________

 

“AMARAAAA!!!” (Ezme)

Flinching at the angry howl that shook her, cold sweat broke out on her back. Uh-oh.

Feeling the floor shake as Ezme approached, Amara put a strained, amiable smile on her face as she turned away from the workbench her dented armor laid upon before the angel entered the room with glowing, grey eyes. “F-Fluffles! What-”

“Don’t FLUFFLES me!!” Ezme howled in anger as she walked over to her and grabbed Amara by the collar. “Why would you do that! WHY?!”

Feeling the pain in her eardrums as the angel’s empowered shout entered her ears, Amara cast Divine Regeneration before she replied hesitantly. “Fluffles, calm do-”

“DON’T TELL ME TO CALM-!” Ezme shrieked, bursting Amara’s eardrums. Before she managed to heal her ears a second time, she saw how Ezme’s lips moved continuously as tears appeared in the angel’s eyes. “-assault my sibling?! I’ve spent years trying to convince them you’re not a threat! And then y-you...threw it all away!! WHY?!”

Feeling a little regretful once she realized to which extent the angel was upset and seeing that she was about to completely break down into tears, Amara cupped Ezme’s cheeks and spoke calmly. “I know how you feel, but it was for a good reason. Just let me explain.”

Ezme’s lips shivered and averted her eyes before crossing her arms. “Then explain. And I hope for your own sake that it can justify this mess!”

Amara let out a faint sigh and stroked the angel’s warm cheeks with her thumbs. “Do you want me to survive?”

“Of course! Dummy!” Ezme retorted, pushing Amara's hands away and glared at her. “Why are you even asking that?!”

“Then how am I supposed to get strong enough to survive?” Amara asked calmly and looked into her eyes. “Amin made a good point in saying that there will be a limit to how strong I’ll get by fighting demons. Ryc’zamul is a demon lord, and will fight with divine power, right? I’ll need to fight such opponents. And it’s not like I can get practise against demon lords, since they’re the reason we’re in this mess.”

Ezme’s shoulders visibly relaxad as she seemed to have understood. As Amara wiped the tears from her eyes, the angel muttered moodily. “...You could’ve asked me first.”

Amara raised an eyebrow and smiled wryly. “To be my punching bag? I think the terms said I can’t get any help. Which means my targets need to be unwilling, right?”

“...Good point.” Ezme pouted and looked away. “But...it’s not going to help your image.”

Amara chuckled. “Would you perfer that I don’t get practise fighting all out?”

“That’s not what I meant!” Ezme retorted angrily. Letting out a sigh as she calmed down, she looked at Amara sternly. “Don’t attack my siblings for now. Stick with demons until we manage to figure this out. After all, you still have some trouble against the archdemons that are magicians or veterans.”

Amara opened her mouth to protest, but as Ezme’s stern gaze changed into an angry glare, she stopped herself and nodded. “Alright. But I won’t be able to improve by fighting them forever.”

Ezme snorted. “I know that. But it’s still too early for you to go up against one of my siblings. Or are you telling me you had a chance against my brother?”

“Well…” Amara thought back to the bout she had with the angel. Although she didn’t want to admit it, she hadn’t really stood a chance. “...I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I am!” Ezme poked Amara’s chest. “So you stay here and fight demons while I sort it out so you can fight my siblings when you’re ready! Got it?”

Amara let out a sigh and nodded with a faint smile. “Got it, Fluffles.”

“Hmpf.” Emze’s eyes narrowed. “Since you seem to have forgotten that I’m here to help you and instead choose to go ahead with your reckless ideas on your own, I guess I need to stay here and ensure you behave.”

 

_______________

 

Amara looked at the angel next to her and spoke hesitantly. “Ezme...I’m sorry.” 

“Hmpf.” Ezme snorted dismissively as she sat with crossed arms, her eyes glued to anime rolling on the screen.

“I’m not going to do something reckless like that again. At least not without telling you first.” Amara continued.

“Hmpf.” Ezme merely snorted in response.

“Let me make it up to you?” Amara asked and stroked the angel’s warm feathers with the back of her fingers. 

Ezme turned her eyes from the screen to meet her gaze and asked moodily. “How?”

“However you want.” Amara said with a wry smile and leaned in to peck her cheek. 

Ezme averted her eyes and pouted before she muttered. “...Spend more time with me.”

Amara raised an eyebrow as she leaned down to peer up at her face. “Don’t I spend every moment with you whenever you’re here?”

“Well...you do, but…” Ezme muttered moodily. “Ever since you chose a mouthpiece...and started preparing your domain...you haven’t had as much time to help me with mine.”

That’s what this is about? Amara’s eyebrow rose in amusement before she answered with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. Things should ease up a little once the summit is over.”

Ezme shook her head before letting out a dejected sigh. “You need to prepare your domain just as much as I need to prepare mine. And it’s not like I can’t do it on my own with the plans you set out. It’s just…”

Oho. Amara smiled wryly and leaned closer. “I see. So you missed me.”

“..Mmh.” Ezme replied as she averted her eyes. 

Being adorable like that makes me want to tease you. Amara’s lips rose higher. “I missed you too, Fluffles.”

Ezme’s lips curved faintly as cheeks gained a pink hue. After a short awkward silence, she glanced at Amara before holding her hand up in front of her. 

Amara glanced at the gesture and raised an eyebrow as she looked at the angel. “What?”

“Hand.” Ezme said with what would have been a perfect poker face, if it weren’t for the fact she was averting her eyes and blushing.

Amara twisted her lips as her desire to tease her grew while she intertwined her fingers with Ezme’s. She waited until the angel’s blushing resided before she whispered. “Isn’t this going in the wrong order?”

Ezme tilted her head as she looked at her. “What do you mean?”

Amara shrugged with a wry smile. “I mean, isn’t it strange to get embarrassed about hand holding when we’ve already-”

“Amara.” Ezme interrupted sternly.

“Yes, Fluffles?” Amara asked with an amused smile. 

“We were having a moment.” Ezme said flatly. 

“...Maybe, but-” (Amara)

“Amara.” Ezme interrupted and glared at her. “Shut up.”

Amara grinned as the angel squeezed her hand. “Yes, Fluffles.”