The next morning Mars returned to the wasteland after having told the girls at home that he would be gone for a few days, then he spent most of the day training Jacob in the art of Kel before he decided it was time to pay Velvet a visit and left the courtyard behind along with the old demon that had business at the place, as they walked along the way Mars and the old demon chatted about what Mars had been doing since he left the wasteland, Mars also asked into what had been happening in the capital of demons since he left but all he got for a response was 'it's like it always is' so he quickly dropped the topic, soon they arrived at the place and both of them were allowed in Mars remembered the path to Velvet's chambers so he said goodbye to the old demon that had business in another part of the place and made his way towards Velvet's chambers were he soon arrived and knocked on the door

"who is it?"

"it's me"

"oh Mars..."

Velvet got quiet and then Mars' ears picked up hurried movement inside the room for sometime until she spoke again

"come in"

"thanks"

Mars opened the door and walked into Velvet's chambers, the first thing he saw was Velvet that sat at a small table and was drinking tea, she was wearing her blindfold as usual, Mars looked around the room and gave a nod before he spoke with a teasing smile on his face

"that was the fastest panic cleaning I have heard in sometime, what did you hide your p.r.o.n?"

the graceful exterior that velvet had put on crumbled as she puffed her cheeks and stammered

"as if a princess would have such vulgar stuff!"

Mars' smile widened slightly as he walked over and sat down in front of Velvet

"so you know what p.r.o.n is.... you dirty brat"

"....anymore and I'll get angry"

Mars wiped the teasing smile off his face and showed a gentle smile before he asked

"how have you been Velvet?"

"humph"

Velvet puffed her cheeks and turned her head to the side, Mars gave a sigh

"I'm sorry I went to far"

"as long as you know you were wrong"

Mars stood up from his chair and made a 90 degree bow

"I apologize for my rudeness princess Velvet"

"...well, apology accepted please sit"

Mars sat down again and looked over at Velvet, as usual he could feel a gaze on him even though she was blindfolded, Mars studied her movements for a moment before he muttered

"you really are not blind are you?"

"of course I'm not blind"

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Mars was a little surprised by Velvet's answer

"then why do you wear a blindfold?"

"because I have to"

"...I see?"

Mars tilted his head still a little confused but velvet followed up

"my eyes are a little special"

"...I see, I won't pry anymore then"

"very good Mars"

the two of them spent some time chatting during which Mars noticed Victoria, she was sleeping on Velvet's bed with her 4 limbs sticking into the air, Velvet followed Mars' gaze and also noticed Victoria's sleeping poster and the two of them sheared a laugh before velvet suddenly turned serious and asked Mars

"so Mars what brings you to the wasteland this time?"

Mars sipped his tea before he answered Velvet's question

"the wasteland itself"

"the wasteland?"

"yeah I was bestowed a skill recently that I need to practice and the wasteland seemed to be the perfect place to do it"

"my oh my, a bestowed skill surely it must be powerful right?"

Mars gave a knowing smile and a nod before he explained the skill

"yeah it is, it can more than tipple my physical abilities"

Velvet's jaw nearly hit the table as the corner of her mouth twitched

"t-t-tipple.... and that's without any backlash?"

"I think so, I have not used it yet so I'm not sure"

"that's a bestowed skill for you I guess..."

"yeah it's a quite powerful, so I need to practice it before I can use it in combat"

"I see..."

Velvet gave an understanding nod before the conversation turned less serious and the two of them chatted casually until evening came and Mars went back to the old demon's courtyard and after eating yet another grand feast Mars borrowed one of the guest bedrooms and pa.s.sed out...

The next morning Mars' eyes slowly opened and looked up at the unfamiliar ceiling

'where is this again..? oh right'

Mars' brain quickly kicked into gear as his confusion disappeared before he sat up and looked around the guest room the decorations were simple

'...can't really stall anymore than this'

Mars decided that today was the day he was going to test out his new skill and got up out of the bed and got dressed before he walked out of the guestroom, the mornings in the wasteland was cold so a cold wind hit him in the face when he opened the door waking him up completely. Mars walked out into the courtyard and saw Alex and Jacob was sparing as usual and greeted them

"good morning"

"good morning senior brother Mars"

"...morning"

Mars as usual ignored Alex's disdain and walked over to the table where the old demon sat and enjoyed his breakfast

"good morning"

"oh good morning Mars, come join me"

"sure"

Mars sat down and had breakfast with the old demon and mentioned he some stuff to do today, the old demon didn't pry and so after Mars finished eating breakfast he stood up and excused himself before he opened a portal to the middle of the wasteland and steeped though...

The wasteland was as it always was, flat, empty and blistering hot during the daytime and cold during the night. The only things that dotted the horizon was boulders of various sizes that stood in the otherwise empty wasteland, Mars gave a nod this would do nicely for a practice site for his new skill

"well then... here goes nothing"

Mars breathed out and activated his new skill [Half-awaken], instantly Mars felt a difference in his perception, his hearing became painfully sharp, dust blowing in the wind felt like boulders trumpeting down a mountain side, Mars nearly covered his ears in shock but managed to keep still as he tried to adjust to the changes and for the next 10 minutes Mars stood still without moving until he managed to somewhat adjust to the changes

"okay... now for the first steep..."

Mars then tired to lift his right leg for a steep but the moment he did, he was flung backwards at high speed and after flying through the air for a moment he collided with a boulder and was embedded into it

"ouch... what the f.u.c.k was that?"

Mars kept still while he thought about what could have caused him to fly across the wasteland like that and suddenly came to a realization

"is it my status... because I now use it all at the same time?"

Mars' guess was right on point, normally he used about 1/10th of his total status now that his strength was so much more him simply raising his leg to take a step forwards was enough to send him flying backwards

"in that case... let's take it easy..."

Mars focused and tired best he could at moving slowly and with normal strength as he got out of the boulder he was embedded into and about 15 minutes later he managed to get free without getting sent flying again

"okay so far so good... let's try jumping next"

Mars did a small jump and was propelled about 25 meters into the air before gravity took over again and he fell down again and landed on his feet

"good... now for walking"

Mars spent the whole day with his [Half-awaken] skill activated, it was not until nightfall that he deactivated the skill and gave a nod

"not bad for a days work..."

during the time he had his [Half-awaken] skill activated he managed to learn how to walk normally again without getting send flying which Mars saw as great improvement, it definitely was the right call to practice this skill before he used it in combat, he could just about imagine what would have happened if he had used it against Yirmir without any practice