Chapter 135 - It Only Hurts At First (Beast Den 7) (2/2)

Not only was it polishing his skin, but the painful energy was also circulating through his internal system, toughing up the insides of his body as well. As he kept going, he noticed that the pain was starting to dull a bit and decided to circulate his energy faster, causing the feeling of pain and polishing to increase as well. Vivi, who was sitting at the edge of the pool watching him, couldn't help but smile at her own insight. This was what she thought would happen. Although she didn't relish the thought of pain, she too got back into the pool and began the process as well, starting off slowly before increasing the speed.

Neither had any idea how long they were in the pool as they focused on their bodies, periodically increasing the rate of their circulation when they felt the pain start to lessen. In someone wanted to describe the process sarcastically, they would say that Laz and Vivi were torturing themselves at a constant rate, never letting the pain lessen past a certain point. The will power they displayed was intense.

For Laz, the torture had an additional effect. He had absorbed all of the source essence from the large spider who was a higher level than him. Using only the black flame of his source essence, there was no telling how long it would take to break it down and integrate it. Thanks to the constant circulation of the painful energy, the originally dense source energy was broken down and integrated quickly, bringing Laz's power up to the next level. He was finally on the same level and Vivi at the mid level late stage condensation realm. Since Laz wasn't paying attention, he barely noticed, keeping all of his focus on tempering of his body.

As Laz and Vivi both reached the limits of their speed of circulation, the pain finally lessened to an almost non-existent amount before disappearing all together. The only thing they were left with was the warm and inviting sensation of the pool water, giving them the illusion that they had dreamed up the pain. Opening his eyes, Laz looked over at Vivi who was looking back at him. They both couldn't help but smile and let their tense bodies relax, slipping underneath the water for a moment before they both began floating. If it wasn't for the feeling of vitality that engulfed them after the tempering as well as the sweat that covered their heads, they might have really believed it was just a dream. For now, neither of them had the desire to test the changes as that could come later. Right now it was important to relax.

”Only hurts at first huh?” Laz said while looking up at the ceiling of the cavern.

*He he he. Would you have been so willing to do it had I explained everything?* Vivi responded with an evil chuckle.

”Oh? So you knew what was going to happen eh?” Laz said, his mouth curling into a smirk.

*Of course. Who do you think I am huh? This girl is the smartest in the world!* Vivi replied with a content grin.

Because she was very pleased with herself, she failed to notice the tone of Laz's voice or take into consideration where he was in relation to her in the pool. All of the sudden, she felt a sharp whack hit her unguarded rear end, causing her to whelp in surprise.

”UUURRRFFFF.”

*HEY!!!*

Laz couldn't help but break out into laughter. Although he never had a problem with her mischievousness, that didn't mean he wasn't going to punish her for it. There was no telling what she would do in the future if he didn't enforce some discipline.

*YOU. YOU. YOU BIG JERK.* Vivi swam over to the edge of the pool and got out before shaking off all of the excess water, all over the pile of his clothes and gear. Seeing this, Laz couldn't help but laugh again, enjoying her tantrum. Even so, he knew it was time to go and despite looking at the lamp hanging close to him, he instead went and climbed out without touching it. Although he didn't bring a towel, that didn't stop him from using a bit of black flame to dry himself quickly before getting dressed. He then spent a few moments drying Vivi's fur while brushing it with his fingers, making sure it didn't get tangled. This little action of his helped to improve her mood by a lot and when he was done, she was no longer mad.

Looking over at the lamp and back down to the pool, Laz couldn't help but want to take the lamp with him to study it. For the moment though, he was going to leave it here as he had an idea forming in his head. After watching him for a few moments, Vivi couldn't help but ask,

*What are you planning? Why didn't you take it before you got out?* She had assumed he was going to grab it since that was the original plan. He was still planning on taking it, but not right now.

”Well, I thought to myself, why not let a few more people enjoy a small trip like this. After all, all of the really dangerous things are gone and I'm guessing it will take a while before another large spider evolves, right?”

*Yes... It's not something that just happens overnight. Ohhhh. Your going to bring your little squad here huh?* She asked, finally noticing his thoughts.

”Yep. They need to get a taste for fighting and killing. I figured this would be a good place to do it. How many of those things are left?” Laz asked, looking around.

*Couple dozen of the ball size web slingers and like 4 of the large ones.* Vivi responded.

”Perfect.”

*This is going to give them nightmares.*

”Nah... they will forget all about it once they take that fun bath we just had.”

*You're horrible... But I like it.*

”Thank you!”

Both man and wolf had rather wicked smiles on their faces as they made their way out of the caverns.