Inside of the cage, Dean couldn’t ignore the scent of metal and wet earth permeating the air.

Ash materialised next to him and immediately shifted into the Armored Dire wolf form.

What followed was motes of green light as the Wind sprite flickered into existence. Its tiny form, hovering and shifting in mid-air, neither solid nor ethereal.

He decided not to summon the earth elemental yet. The last time he summoned it, was when he was still preparing for the draft.

And he didn’t have the best memory of it. The creature was too unstable. Fracturing and disbalancing any earth surface it made contact with.

Summoning it now would be like asking for the probation tag again since he couldn’t control its innate form yet.

Taking a battle stance, he balanced himself as he fought the temptation of using Hermit’s eyes.

Training without it would mean he would be able to improve on his physical conditioning and reflexes.

And that would make Hermit’s eyes incredible perception all the more valuable if his body could keep up.

"Let’s dance.." Dean instructed the summons. And immediately, Ash and the Wind sprite began flanking him.

Dean didn’t have to think too much about it. He had activated Resonance to convey his message and the summons responded.

Ash was first to spring into action, lunging forward straight at Dean. Ash didn’t need much instructions since it had watched Dean fought before, knew his moves, and simply attacked how Dean would.

With the Wolf coming in a straight line charge, Dean sidestepped as the air rattled while Ash moved past.

The armored body of the wolf twisted mid-run. As a paw sweep aimed for Dean’s head.

Reading Ash’s movement with the way its hind legs planted first. Dean dropped low, sliding underneath the sweep like he wore skates.

And with each motion, Dean could feel the rebound core armor pulse, as energy gathered underneath the surface.

Dean’s eyes snapped towards the Wind sprite but to his surprise. The creature didn’t attack as expected. It hesitated.

The delay due to its lack of coordination with Ash was only for a few seconds but it was enough to get Dean’s timings off.

Suddenly the wind sprite’s body twisted and shifted and with it, came a powerful concussive blast of air.

It slammed into the ground causing debris that shot at Dean’s side.

Placing his arms in a crisscross position, Dean formed a defensive pulse with his rebound core to cushion the impact, skidding back as his heels dug into the cage floor.

Dean felt it under his feet as the flux core barrier beneath the ring pulsed once, reinforcing itself against the impact as the wind attack bounced off it and dissipated.

’That’s alot stronger than I remember,’ he thought.

It was now obvious that the creatures were leveling too.

It’s wasn’t necessarily the grade of their skills but the effects that grew sharper and potent. Which meant...

From the corner of his eye, Dean saw as Ash slammed its front limbs on the ground and roared.

The sound travelled like a shockwave as the air vibrated violently. Most of the people outside the cage stopped in their tracks.

Everyone felt the cage shake for a second or two as Dean closed his ears.

"Damn," he bit on his lower lips. Never has Ash done something like this. Was he evolving as the fight went on? Improving what it’d copied...?

Dean couldn’t find an immediate answer before the Wolf sprung forward again. Dashing in like a cheetah on the trail of its meal.

Switching stance, Dean brought his legs apart as he decided not to side step this time.

The wind sprite attacked with its gale breath skill again but Dean wasn’t caught by surprise either.

He leaped toward the advancing Ash and, then rotated in mid-air, turning his body into a circular shape like he was rolling.

He took the brunt of Ash’s charge on one point. The impact when combined with the concussive wind blast was massive and exactly what Dean needed.

Sending him flying back, Dean had controlled the impact with precision, by shifting the Armor plates to concentrate on the exact spot, reducing the surface area of the damage contrary to what you would expect.

But this was perfect for Dean, since the Armour absorbed the energy like a vacuum instead of spreading or deflecting.

The impact had Dean flying back but he never lost concentration even for a second.

Catching himself, he controlled his landing as his boots hit the cage walls and immediately he shot forward like a torpedo.

The orange veins of energy under the armour plates pulsed as Dean exploded out. Closing the distance between him and Ash faster than the summon could react.

Releasing a blast of this volcanic heat waves from his heels like propulsion, he kicked Ash in the mid section with incredible force sending the wolf flying to his left.

’Rebound Kick’

The armour on Ash’s body let out a sharp cracking sound as lines stretched across its width. This armour allowed the Wolf transformation avoid too much damage.

Turning his attention to the Sprite, it was already charging another attack but Dean had no clue what to do with it. It was too small and didn’t even have an actual body.

Instead of attacking it head on, Dean distracted it with a straight punch that super charged the air as waves of heat spread out causing the barriers around the cage to pulse brighter, drawing more attention from onlookers.

The Sprite was in a tough spot and it had to dodge but Ash moved regardless which was what Dean needed.

Simple coordination was the start then they could build it piece by piece and fight like a unit.

The game of chess Dean was playing with himself was like a simulation in his mind.

Using his summons on one side to attack with coordination while he fought on the other to practice reaction. It was quite exhausting mentally and right now, he was barely keeping up.

The exhaustion he felt alongside his thoughts, made him miss Ash’s new skill activate as it appeared next to him with lightning wound around its form.

’Wait–,’ Dean thought. ’How–.’

His thoughts and adjustments weren’t fast enough, and the lightning hit him mid thought, raising him up and slamming him back into the ground with a loud thud.

Dean felt the jolt of pain travel across every vein, every bone in his body and then his anger spiked again.

And with it , the resonance connection flared as a deep, malevolent growl made the air vibrate with tension.

Dean tilted his head to see the bloodshot eyes of Ash, even as its fur spiked like knives. Its gaze was on Dean. With its pressure going from training to hunting.

This was it. The exact sensation from before. Growing deeper the more he got angry about the attack he couldn’t predict.

Dean forced himself to stop. Taking slow, deep breaths.

"Control it. Control it," he whispered to himself.

He watched Ash, its wolf’s eyes fading from blood to normal. Its fur also reverting

and Dean finally got it.

It wasn’t Ash being angry. It wasn’t the wolf’s emotion. It was the opposite.

His emotion bleeding out into Ash. When he got hurt, and when the pain triggered his anger, Ash responded.

Not amplifying the emotions but becoming protective and aggressive like it was trying to shield him from whatever had hurt him.

This meant the real problem wasn’t Ash. It was him.

A/N: Thank You for your Support. Please your reviews is much needed for the story to have an official rating ... Thank you all very much. Expect better content .