D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

Chapter 513: Taking a Stab at Introspection

*I'm really not as good as I thought huh?* Never before had it been so clear to Kat that Kamiko outclassed her as a fighter. *I guess she was really holding back against the guys at Wrath. They couldn't have been faster than the rats so I imagine she let them get away with a lot of things. This might show me that she's more soft hearted then I thought… but it also shows off how strong she really is.*

And Kat really wasn't sure how to deal with this knowledge. *I jumped in and tried to take care of things as fast as I could so that Kamiko wouldn't be alone with two of them for long… but I was the one wasting time. I know that fight was sloppy but I had intended to take a few hits to speed things up. Did I even manage to do that? For all the hits I slammed into that first rat it managed to block my for a huge amount of time.

I guess this is why I need a weapon. Even Sue's hammer is a big step up. It's more blunt force sure, but the leverage is much better and the secondary impact from the metal inside it just adds more to it overall. That's not to even consider the very clear and obvious benefits that having a slashing weapon like Kamiko's or my own fans which I really need to get lessons for.

As much as it hurts to admit, I think I should skip out on spending time with everyone on Earth if I need to. Getting used to using a real weapon and not just my fists has never been more obvious. I'm sure that the demons that actually punch things either have gloves with like… spikes or something on them, or some kind of natural advantage. As tough as my hands have become, and as good at slicing as my fingernails are, those are mostly side effects of my all around body upgrades. I need TOOLS, weapons, things that utilise my strength not rely on it.*

*And that's the crux of it isn't it.* Kat dusted herself off and headed onwards. Kamiko seemed to pause for a second and give Kat a strange look, but it was lost on the demon in question. Kamiko just gave a small shrug at that and followed behind. They'd made there choice, and she didn't think the fight was hard, so marching onward was the logical conclusion to her… though Kat didn't even realise she was walking forward at this point, as she was that lost in her own mind.

*I don't really have combat experience. Never have. I didn't realise how bad things were till now though. Even when I was fighting through that Pheonix clan I didn't feel so bad about things. I fought a bunch of them, got stabbed a lot, and really most of my energy use was from being a bit wasteful.

It was Xiang that really caused the problems in the end too. I was doing… well I want to say well but maybe that's being overly generous looking back at things. I was at least succeeding; I can say that confidently. Being stabbed through the heart was a major setback. Though at least I know I can survive that…

Still just because I can survive horrid punishments doesn't mean my fighting skill has suddenly increased. I know how to make use of the openings my regeneration creates but am I using that as a crutch? The surprise factor alone normally allows for a finishing blow from me.

The only other time that wasn't true, and if we don't count my dream world adventures, is way back when I fought all of Skye's team. I didn't want to just burn those guys though in case I needed the energy later. Now that I look back on it though, that was also a really sloppy fight.

I won not because I outplayed them, or because I was even a halfway decent combatant. I managed to beat them because they were… maybe not quite human, but pretty close to the human baseline, and I just didn't go down. My regeneration was completely ridiculous against them. They had to keep trying to pin me down but my strength stopped that really being a big deal. *

Kat stepped to the side as Sue came up and smashed through a bunch of patrolling rats breaking her from her thoughts somewhat. Kat watched Sue's attacks carefully and wasn't entirely pleased with what she saw, not because Sue was bad, but because she was good. Her movements efficient, her stance professional.

*Damn, I'm probably worse than Sue at combat. While I'm better IN combat, that's something that could easily change. If she just ranked up I might be easily beaten by her. I'm not even sure if I could really beat Kamiko. I thought I could manage it before today, but now I'm wondering if that's really the case.

Her slashing weapon isn't a big scare, but at the same time all that really lets me defeat her is my regeneration. If we were just fighting to first blood I'd lose in an instant. The issue is, I really should have corrected this. Grace told me to pick up a good weapon, even went to the trouble of finding something that apparently suits me very well… and I've just left them to languish. Is this my punishment for that? This lingering self doubt and clearly below acceptable combat ability.*

Kat let out a deep breath, hoping to change her thoughts. They were no longer truly productive. She needed to be ready for a fight and thinking about how outclassed she was or how badly she managed her past fights wasn't helping things. Kat forcibly tried to find a positive spin for this.

*Hmm… what can I look at in a good light? It took a few moments for the obvious answer to come to her. My regeneration. As much as I've cursed how unskilled I am, regeneration isn't really at fault here. The ability is SUPERB. It's on a completely different level to other Rank 1 skills, and even Sue's rather impressive shielding ability, which admittedly can be shared, still isn't anywhere close to as good defensive wise.

I can take hit after hit without going down. Heck, I know for a fact I can be stabbed in the heart and keep going… twice. Even the supposedly rather serious energy channel damage I acquired was something my regeneration could fix.

While it is clearly bad to over rely on it as I may have been doing, it's a powerful tool and I shouldn't forget that. I should be very thankful. I wonder how many times it saved me life already? Small wounds that might not have seemed like much but would have definitely piled up.

Heck, ignore proper wounds for a second. I've been walking around forests and across dirt roads. How many cuts and scrapes were healed without my notice? I wonder if I could have ever completed any mission without it. Even my calm walk with Minor through the underground tunnels.

My whole face and neck were destroyed from the crash, and my wing wasn't in great shape either because of how things went down. Granted, I probably wouldn't have tried at all if I didn't know I had that sort of regeneration, but imagine if it was only half as efficient or something… or… or… imagine if it didn't remove foreign particles.

Gravel being healed around, slowly having skin regrow around it and forcing the foreign objects to remain in my throat. That would have been torturous. What if it got into my lungs and stayed there? I might have been out of the job before I'd even really started if something like that really came up.*

Kat's eyes started to burn brighter as they cleared up. The worry and indecision she'd been building slowly falling from her shoulders as she stood taller. Her tail, not that she'd noticed, no longer drooping down, barely holding itself up enough to prevent scraping along the floor now raised up again in its question mark shape behind her back bobbing as she walked forward in a steady rhythm. Her energy seemed to be cleaner almost, as she circulated it slowly. Not enough to really speed up her mind or body, just barely enough to make it a conscious action rather then its resting state.

When Kat saw the next set of guard rats, she didn't hesitate. This time, there was two either side again, but a rat patrol also happened to be passing nearby. Kat didn't jump into the mess because she was afraid. She didn't jump in to finish her fight first. She jumped in because she was ready, and it was time to start paying attention. To making sure that the fight wasn't too long, but that she learnt something from it. Mistakes would keep happening, but that was fine. Kat could learn.