Hell's Academy

Howard had no idea how much his overall power had grown in the last few weeks ever since he started putting his intent into his Ki Hearts to make them expand.

He knew that he was doing better against Yesran's Sword Domain, but that was only in his dreams. He wanted, more than anything, to test his abilities in the Furnace. He wanted to test his abilities against strong men like Harkel and Waxel.

'I'm sure with this new strength, even without the Emperor's Domain I would've been able to kill Armecolith. However, Harkel is in an entire league entirely. With Waxel here, I doubt this will be easy.' Howard thought while he summoned his Dark Ki and his Dream Ki. 'However, I'm confident I should at least be able to surprise them. You can do this Howard!'

"Howard, why don't you fight me first?' Waxel stepped in front of Harkel while he summoned his Ki around his body. "Don't hold back okay? Use the same amount of strength you used against Armecolith."

"I'm coming!" Howard stepped off his back foot before he shot forward. "Are you sure you can hande it?"

"He's ridiculously fast!" Waxel raised his hand to block Howard's attack but by the time he did Howard's hand was already inches from his face. He could only look on in horror as Howard's fist barreled into the side of his face.

Boom!

Waxel shot into the distance while even Harkel looked in front of him in disbelief. Howard had just completely exceeded his expectations. 

Originally, when he was fighting Howard, he at most used the strength he had in the SS rank. There were multiple reasons for this, and the main one was that in Jarlon Valley it was possible to damage his arrays that he used to seal the Great Last King. 

For that reason, he simply decided to tell Howard his strength was in the SS rank. He would never go over that level of power anyway, and of course he didn't want Howard to ask him to help him defeat Armecolith. 

Armecolith would frankly have been easy for Harkel to kill, but then Howard would have lost his reason to train. He needed Howard to get strong enough to kill the Great Last Lord, and at the time Annibel and Reslan weren't in Jarlon Valley. Of course, he was still extremely pleased by Howard's progress.

He couldn't help but smirk widely while Howard leaned forward and also sent a punch towards his ghoulish countenance. His black cape shot behind him from the pressure before he lunged to the side and dodged Howard's attack.

Boom!

The mountain behind Harkel instantly seemed to bend from the will behind Howard's punch as Harkel leaned back to dodge Howard's other fist.

'So powerful,' Harkel stepped off his back foot and pushed Howard's hand away. 'I almost can't believe it. Is this Howard or an imposter. I haven't been so excited to fight somoene in such a long time hahaha! I guess I don't have to hold back.'

Boom!

Harkel spun off his back foot and in the same instant Howard's fist went passed him kicked him as hard as he could in the gut. 

Bang!

Howard shot towards the mountain and flipped in the air before planting his feet on it. Smiling, he caught his breath while he felt an enormous Ki begin to be birthed by Harkel. This was what he wanted! This is the kind of person he wanted to fight.

"Waxel, I think you should let me and Howard fight. Don't you agree?" Harkel turned back and saw Waxel struggling to get out of a deep recess in the mountain. "I also have to ask you Howard, but how have you gotten strong so fast? It's strange that I already have to use my full strength against you. Even when we were training in Jarlon Valley, I never once activated my strength passed the beginning stages of the SS rank. Yet now, something feels different about you? Why don't you tell me before I crush you like I promised."

"Hehe, It's hard to explain, but I've been working on improving my Ki Hearts," Howard jumped out of the rubble and smiled widely. "Do you mind if I don't tell you too much? I-I don't know who could be listening. Maybe when we go inside I can show you what I did."

"Ki Hearts can't be trained. It has to be something else," Harkel sighed and stepped back before raising both of his arms. He looked like he was putting a strange will into his fists while he put pressure on his back foot. "If that's the case, you have to be the first one to have figured it out in the entire existence of the Furnace. You're trying to tell me you figured out something not even the Demon King did?"

"Hehe, it's because of what Waxel showed me," Howard stepped back as well and prepared to activate Fire King's Sprint. "Now, do you mind if I try my hardest too?"

"Go for it," Harkel stepped off his back foot before he shot forward so fast that Waxel's family watching could hardly see him move. He was extremely impressed by Howard's strength, but had yet to use a single technique that could cause him damage. "However, just a warning. When facing someone in the SSS rank, you have to believe they have quite a few understandings. For instance, Waxel's eyes of life and death are quite common knowledge in those in my league. You ready to see why fights with the big boys can take days?"

"Hehe, don't hold back," Howard smiled and waved Harkel towards him. "I want nothing less than your full power."

"Very well, I'm already behind you," Harkel's fist appeared behind Howard, and before he could turn around shot into his abdomen. "First lesson about playing with the big boys. Nothing you see you should believe! Now take this! Ghost Launcher Fist!"

###

Waxel could only stand back and watch Howard and Harkel fight.

To say that he would be outmatched by either one of them would be an understatement. Yet, if there was one person he'd much rather not fight it had to be Howard. Not only was he his grandson, but he seemed to be using techniques that seemed to be literally affecting the entire mountain range.

"He clearly doesn't have Domain Ki. Why is it when he hit me, it's almost like the mountain I crashed into softened the blow?" Waxel rubbed a few strands of rubble out of his gray hair as he watched Howard get hit dozens of times in the chest by Harkel's chains.

Harkel had started using his Ghost Domain while Howard still seemed to be merely using his body to take all the attacks. It was odd. He was clearly getting pummeled, but he felt so much fear for Howard. Was it fear for his potential, or what he could do now when he was backed into a corner.

Boom!

Howard took another hit from Harkel in the jaw and shot into the mountain before a large cloud of dust shot into the air. 

Waxel sighed and shook his head. Even though he'd gotten stronger, he was still no match for someone in the SSS rank.

"Howard, I think it's time we call it quits," Harkel landed on the ground and pulled off his hood. He was beginning to get tired from fighting Howard, and he had yet to fully recover his strength. If he went any longer, he might also really end up using a skill on Howard he regretted. "I'm already beyond impressed. I think even if Yesran attacked you, there is at least a 5 percent chance you'd be able to escape. However, you can't keep fighting me. I haven't even activated my advanced domain."

Domains in the SS rank and Domains in the SSS rank were completely different things. When someone entered into the SSS rank, their domain would naturally expand once they understood Domain Ki.

In the SS rank, a domain would at most be able to stretch several thousand meters, but in the SSS rank, it could cover over a 100 kilometers and draw in energy from everywhere in the distance. Harkel, of course, had no intention to harm Howard, and at this point was just using the full strength of his body to waylay his attacks. But if this went on, he'd really have no choice but to use his domain.

"Hehe, I got what I wanted. You can estimate my power right. I have a feeling in one more week, I can roughly be 15 percent stronger." Howard jumped up out of the rubble and wiped himself off. "Anyways, that's all I wanted to find out. However, Harkel, if I was 15 percent stronger, would you have to use your advanced domain."

'If you were 15 percent stronger, you would probably force me to, yes, but it's still not enough for me to use my arrays," Harkel sighed and shook his head. "Now, you mind showing me how the hell you got strong so fast. Waxel, you should come too."

"I-I think we should only talk about this in the safest of rooms," Waxel pointed at the mansion that was on top of the mountain nearby and smiled. "Come on. Monica is on her way anyway. You can tell us all about it in the training center before she arrives."