*Crack*
"And that's the last one," Mane stated nonchalantly as he tossed the large beast he was holding onto the ground. The large corpse joined a plethora of corpses similar to it in physique with the ground littered with them. The beast was reddish black in color with the physique of a bull. But it had far longer and stronger horns. This beast wasn't a Magical Beast but had a physique comparable to a Low Class Magical Beast, only slightly weaker.
"This can't be what you had in mind. They are so much weaker than I thought" Mane looked dissatisfied as he grumbled.
"Easy steps kid," Dan's figure flashed as he disappeared from his former position and reappeared right next to Mane. He ruffled Mane's golden hair with a small grin on his face as Mane tried to get the man off him. Mane was tall, but Dan had the physique of a hulk. So Mane still looked like a kid before the giant man. After several dozens of seconds Mane was able to pull himself free.
"I don't get why I still have to hunt these beasts. They are so much weaker than I am and pose very little threat to me." Mane complained. He had been eager to hunt today. Although Dan told him that he wouldn't be allowed to hunt any Magical Beasts, he had hoped that the regular beasts would at least be a little challenging. He had even run into a herd of wildebeests after a while hoping that having several of them rush at him would make for a daunting challenge. He was wrong.
"You just killed off at least 50 semi Low Class Wildebeests and yet you remain unmoved. That's a pretty good achievement for your first hunt" Dan didn't care about Mane's complaints. He already told him that he wasn't going to allow him hunt Magical Beasts, so he didn't know why Mane was expecting something more.
"I thought after dealing with the assassins I would have proven myself fit enough to handle Magical Beasts," Mane mumbled softly, but loud enough so that Dan heard what he said. Again, Dan was unmoved. He was really impressed with how easily Mane dispatched the normal beasts. It was done with very little effort or strength for that matter. Even when the boy carelessly jumped into a herd of Long Horned Wildebeests which were semi Low Class Magical Beasts before he could be stopped, he had been able to easily kill them off. In fact, he killed the first of the wildebeests with nothing but a small pebble. Mane literally flung a pebble at the beast and it penetrated its skull and sunk into its head, effectively ending its life. It got to a point in the fight where the wildebeests were just trying to get away from him, but Mane wasn't going to let that happen. Although a few had escaped, Mane got the lot.
So Dan was able to infer from this that Mane was strong enough to go against high level Thrashers. In fact, apart from Village Head Samoa who was a Predator, Mane could handle anyone else from the village; and that included the so-called Hands of Samoa. And this fact worried Dan a little bit. It was clear from Mane's movements that the boy wasn't innocent. He had clearly killed many before. And the fact that he remained unmoved by the murders he was responsible for last night was evidence that he had in fact taken a life before, and not just one. But that wasn't what worried Dan. With the kind of enemies Dan had, the stronger and tougher Mane was, both mentally and physically, the better the boy would fare if he was ever to come across them. After all with his level of talent, he was bound to meet 'them' sooner than later. What worried Dan was the rustiness in Mane's movements. As a veteran of a thousand and one battles, Dan could recognized that Mane was not moving as fluidly as he could. Not because the boy wasn't good enough, but because the boy simply couldn't.
"Is it because of his lost memories? Did his battle strength nose-dive because of that?" Dan wondered. For he could see that Mane was sharper than he currently let off. And this meant that the boy may have been living very dangerously before he was rescued by Dan. And the fact that someone with such skill was made to lose his memory shook Dan a bit as the man wondered if 'they' had already noticed Mane's gift and were already after him. After all, apart from them he couldn't imagine that there was anyone else capable of erasing another's memories and hampering one's talent.
If Mane knew that his innocent 'lie' had caused a huge misunderstanding in Dan's head he would smack his head in regret. The tale he had made to avoid any suspicions had become a classic case of shooting himself in the foot.
"We should get going. You have literally killed everything there is to kill." Dan smiled bitterly as he walked away, not bothering to pick up any of the game Mane had hunted down. Mane nodded his head in response and went after Dan. He too didn't bother to take some of the beasts home to cook.
"But it is a massive waste to leave them here," Mane commented.
"Agreed," Dan assented. "When we get back to the village, I'm going to let Old Fan know of this. I'm sure he'd send some men to inform the Samoa so they can come and pick them up." Dan continued. Mane had killed a lot – like a lot. There was more than enough meat in this forest to last the entire village for at least half a year if they were well preserved.
"You really did a number on them," Dan shook his head with a bitter smile as they passed through the forest, looking for an exit route.
"I got a bit carried away," Mane blushed and said. Hildegarde who was seated on his shoulder snorted and said, "Carried away? Most of them don't even have complete bodies!"
And she was right. As they walked through the forest they came across several dead animals, and most of them were incomplete. Some were missing their torsos, others were missing their legs, and for some it was their heads that were detached from their bodies. And this was the work of the blushing teen who was still not satisfied with today's work.
"Are you still going to teach Lam?" Dan suddenly asked, and Mane's embarrassment disappeared. His mind was thrown back to the meeting he had with Old Fan this morning, right before he left with Dan for the hunt.
***********************
"Dan tells me you want to teach Lam to defend himself?" Old Fan asked Mane with a strange expression. The older gentleman had reclined in his seat and looked very comfortable. Mane who was seated across him didn't feel the same. He wasn't that familiar with Old Fan so it was a bit uncomfortable being left alone with the man. Dan was outside, insisting that there was no need for him to hear a story he had already heard before. So Mane was left alone with Old Fan.
"Yes Elder Fan. He has enough talent to grow vastly stronger. I think it's a shame that his talent remains untapped and his abilities hidden." Mane replied in a very diplomatic manner.
"You sound like a politician," Old Fan smiled and stated, and Mane smiled wryly. As part of the training he was given by Uncle Jake was courtesy for boys and diplomatic speaking. One could argue that that wasn't a study topic for a child who was barely 5 at the time, but Mane's psychological age was beyond his peers and so he successfully picked them up. Plus it wasn't anything strange, since noble children received the same kind of training at that age. Mane emptied his mind of every thought about Uncle Jake whom he hadn't seen in a while, and although he missed the man, that wasn't the issue at hand here.
"If you want to teach Lam, there is something you must know," Old Fan stopped joking and went straight down to business. Mane's countenance grew sterner as well, as he realized that he was going to be told some sensitive stuff.
"As you have already seen, Lam is a gifted child. Even without any training, his body is stronger than most and he is very talented."
Mane nodded his head, agreeing with Old Fan's words. That much would be visible to any discernable eye. Lam was indeed an unrefined gem.
"So it must seem strange to you that he was never trained. But it is for a good reason. Lily and Lam's parents didn't die because of a plague." Old Fan stated, and Mane felt an explosion go off in his head. The first thing he had learned about the twins was the manner of their parents' death. Yet here he was, learning that it wasn't true at all!
"Even if their mother was vulnerable to diseases, that wouldn't spell the same for their father, Arthur." Old Fan remarked, and explained to Mane about the levels of power and elaborated the strength of Arthur in an attempt to help Mane understand how silly it was to believe that a plague could deal with a powerful Predator with an uncommon title. He explained to Mane that his family was special, and that they had the ability to devour New Type Potions endlessly and how much they could devour was equivalent to how talented they were. Of course Dan was included in the conversation, as the things talked about were mostly what happened decades ago during the Overflow.
Mane's mind was shaken by the information he was given. Not only did he learn that Arthur's father was strong, he had just found out how strong Dan was. The man was far more powerful than Mane thought! And now Mane knew that there was no way Dan's injury was caused by a fight against a Legendary Class Magical Beast like he suspected earlier. There were far more powerful enemies who could injure even Dan! This world was clearly more dangerous than he thought.
"This world isn't simple at all," Hildegarde who was engrossed in the story stated, and Mane nodded his head in agreement. He had already readjusted his evaluation of this world. Yet the knowledge that there were stronger beings out there didn't discourage him. He was excited!
"Arthur was killed by a mysterious organization. Apparently his talent terrified them, and he was killed. Yet Lam has taken the New Type Potion more times than his father. He just didn't know that he had taken them."
"How many times, Elder Fan," Mane asked.
"Six," Elder Fan sighed.
"That's incredible," Mane was amazed. It clearly meant that Lam was far more talented than his father. And it explained why Old Fan was reluctant to let Lam reveal his staggering talent.
"So Elder Fan is afraid they would find Lam and kill him when he awakens," Mane cropped his chin and said.
"Yes. It's my greatest nightmare."
"What about Lily, Elder Fan? She has never taken a New Type Potion, has she?"
"No," Old Fan shook his head.
"I reckon she's just as talented as her brother," Hildegarde whispered, and Mane agreed. Twins were more connected than people thought they were. They may be fraternal twins, but Mane was sure that Lily would be just as talented as her brother, if not more so.
"So do you still want to teach him knowing it would endanger his life?" Old Fan asked with a bitter smile.
"Yes, Elder Fan," Mane replied without a second thought, stunning Old Fan.
"You are powerful, Elder Fan, but have you thought of what would happen to Lam when you're gone?" Mane asked, leaving the old man silent.
"At least with strength he would be able to control his fate."
Mane's words shook Old Fan to the core.
"Plus I would clash with them sooner or later," The confidence behind Mane's words got to Old Fan, and he couldn't help but ask, "Why are you so sure?"
"Because I'm also a genius"
******************************
"Of course I'm going to teach Lam," Mane smile and answered Dan.
"You would be putting him in danger you know," Dan tried to persuade Mane to change his mind.
"He is already in danger," Mane announced and walked ahead of his guardian.
"What do you mean?" Dan asked nonplussed.
"They killed his father, yet didn't kill him or his sister. Why?" Mane narrowed his eyes and asked.
"I don't know," Dan replied.
"Me neither," Mane confessed. "But I'm sure they are keeping tabs on him. And if they are keeping tabs on him, then they have noticed me. And if they have noticed me there is only one ending" Mane smiled strangely and said.
"What?" Dan couldn't resist asking. Mane was emitting a kind of charm that caught even him off guard – a deadly charm.
"The fate of all others who have crossed me," Mane smiled cynically.
"DEATH!"