<h4>Chapter 342: K VS K</h4>


    "Thyme ey? I''ve never heard that name Lass, just how strong might he be?" asked Uncle.


    "That… that is a good question. Honestly I have no idea. It depends what you consider the most impressive? He seemed to think it was hiding my demonic features" said Kat


    Uncle''s eyes bugged out of his head, nearly doubling in size. Kat was watching, they actually did increase in diameter. "He managed that without an artifact for you to hold? Lass that is impressive. If something like that be protecting the others it really wouldn''t matter how hard you punched."


    Kat nodded "Yeah, and other than that it was just really weak bandits and some cultivators that I had to apply a bit of a demonic energy shield around them before flicking them. It was still pretty bad…" said Kat trailing off.


    "Shield? Can ya exin thatss?" asked Uncle


    "Ah… yeah? I mean don''t you guys have it? When I lift something a thin film of energy covers the object so I can lift it with the force evenly distributed. I just do the same thing for punching… or well, not punching but hurting people, to avoid just killing them by hitting them in the chest or something" said Kat


    "Ah" said Uncle nodding. "I''m surprised you can do that Lass. I do actually know what you are talking about. It''s normally not something people bother learning. Not enough control, and showing mercy to your enemies is normally not worth the effort. Normally you get it at third rank though… hmm, you might be a bit stronger than I thought Kat"


    Kat shrugged "I really have no idea"


    Uncle nced between the two subi before bobbing his beard and making a decision. "Right, would you two mind a bit of tug of war. Or rather, can you both stand still in ce and try to move the other. No flying of course, if that''s something you can do. I''ll draw the line"


    Taking out a piece of ck… chalk? From somewhere inside of his beard, Uncle used his beard hand to draw a long line about as thick as Kat''s wrist on the concrete then gestured for Kamiko and Kat to stand either side. "Are you ok with this Kami?" asked Kat


    Kamiko nodded. "I''ll be fine. It''s just a bit of a strength test Kat. I''m not so weak that you''ll break my arms or something. Besides, I trust you to be careful enough not to hurt me."


    Kat smiled, a pleasant warmth in her chest at seeing how much trust Kamiko already had in her. Taking up position Kat said "Want to do this without channelling energy into our limbs first?"


    Kamiko nodded "That actually might be best. We can establish a baseline for each other and then ramp up from there if we are evenly matched. Personally, I think that you will have a slight edge even without using energy but I will try my best!" said Kamiko happily.


    Kat and Kamiko lined themselves up, and when they put their hands together, Kat was already feeling bad. *Dammit, my arms are so much longer than hers. She''s not even that much shorter? Do I just have really long arms or something? Are hers tiny?* The bigger issue, that Kat hadn''t noticed, was the angle of their meeting arms.


    Kat and Kamiko''s hands met and their fingers twined together. They shared a nce with each other and the slightest incline of their heads before they both started to push. Kat felt her muscles tense, as they strained against Kamiko. Her arms were mostly fine, with her elbows locking up and keeping her arms straight. It was her legs that were getting a workout.


    She felt the pressure in them build as she pushed forward, they strained, attempting to move forward. A slight nce at Kamiko revealed… nothing really. Unlike Kat whose toned legs rippled with power clearly visible through the slits in her kimono… Kamiko''s legs werepletely covered.


    If her face was anything to go by though, she wasn''t fairing quite as well as Kat. The slightest shake in Kamiko''s arms started to signal the end, and Kat pushed herself even further forward, forcing Kamiko''s arms to shake further and one of her legs to slide back slightly. Just as Kat was about to step forward and try to take the wind, she heard Uncle yell out. "STOP!"


    The pair froze in ce. They shared a nce, but didn''t retract their hands. They were both leaning heavily into each other and the floor wasn''t the best grip around, so they kept a slight lean. "I didn''t think you''d both be such an even match" said Uncle "Seems it''s mostly just Kat''s height that is doing fer her. Let me just fix that"


    Uncle tapped his beard against the floor twice and Kamiko found herself raised up. The tform moved slowly, and the pair of subi were able to push away from each other slightly and use the raising tform and their own strength to pull themselves to their feet as she rose.


    Once the tform stopped, they looked at each other once again. "Ready to go Kami?" asked Kat.


    Kamiko nodded "Yup, ready and willing Kat. I''m so happy that you aren''t miles ahead of me. I didn''t want to be seen as weak by someone as cool as you"


    Their hands locked together once again. "I''m nothing special, but thanks" said Kat as they started to push once again. The once again quickly reached an equilibrium. Straining against each other with physical strength alone… but it was getting harder on Kat''s end.


    This was not due to hercking in strength, but instead because her energy screamed in her chest to be used. She had the feeling she was just the slightest amount from being able to push Kamiko back, and her energy seemed to be ready toply. The problem was, they had agreed not to use it and Kat was having to concentrate on forcing that same energy to stay put instead.


    The pressure continued to build though, as the seconds past, her energy tried more and more to slip her tight rein on it, and Kat decided it was time to speak up. "Um, Kamiko, my energy is NOT happy with the fact that I''m not using it for this. It really wants to jump in and help me win"


    Kamiko smiled back. "Yes, I know the feeling as I''m currently experiencing it as well. It makes me a little sad to hold it back. My energy just wants to help. Shall we release a little bit then?"


    Kat nodded and Kamiko shared a look with her. They both released a small slither of energy into their arms and legs. Kat instantly felt the power coursing through her, and she felt Kamiko''s grip on her hands tighten. They stayed locked eye to eye, and by an unspoken agreement continued to ramp up the energy they were using.


    Kat''s demonic energy whirled. Cycling happily through her system and provided her more power. Kat made sure to keep it away from her head, and wings. She didn''t want to waste a drop, letting it flow freely everywhere else.? Kat''s eyes started to glow, despite theck of energy to her head, and a very faint purple mist that was just barely visible started to leak from her arms.


    For Kamiko, the process was simr. Her eyes, instead of glowing started to spin, with the cross in the centre staying in ce and the corner stars roaming the edges in ever increasing speed. Additionally, instead of a faint leaking mist like Kat, Kamiko started to generate a soft pink glow that seemed to cling to her body.


    Just as they started to really push against each other, to start the real battle, the floor beneath them started to crack. Kamiko stumbled, as it was her left foot that gave way first, shortly followed by Kat''s right, but it was enough, Kat''s full pressure was about to bear down on Kamiko.


    Faster than either of them could see, strands of beard hair had wrapped around them both, holding them in ce. It was soft andforting and strong as steel. Kat flexed her demonically enhanced muscles on reflex, and found thempletely subdued. The hair didn''t so much as twitch. "Hahaha. The youngins these days are more impressive than I thought" said Uncle.


    "Ummm" Kat looked from Kamiko to Uncle and back to Kamiko wondering what he was talking about. Kamiko shared a simr look of confusion. *What is he talking about? Even Kami is confused? Does she not know? I mean I certainly don''t but… how weird are we?*


    Kamiko though, was more than happy to just ask out loud. She twisted in ce, using the fact that while the hair had no give in it, it didn''t bind them tightly, allowing her to turn her body in the beard to face Uncle. "What do you mean Uncle?"