A FEW MONTHS AGO.
AT THE SAME TIME THE TRIO'S TRAINING WITH GAIA BEGUN
*****
"I wonder what to do now? The three dudes have all gone to train with Gaia. That means they'll be a whole lot stronger the next time we meet. So I have a few options to go with."
Hugo pondered to himself as he paced around the room. There weren't many things that could improve the power of his Awakening at this stage, so he could either supplement other abilities or just let himself go to waste.
On one hand, was improving his entire being qualitatively while on the other was adding more techniques and sets of abilities to his skill set.
"Perhaps… I can go visit my other teachers."
Before his parent's death, they had already listed a group of people who would have custody over him in case something happened to them.
At the top of the list was the Oda's while just below them was Gaia. And that was what he did, he stayed with the Oda's until he was old enough to manage the manor; which was but a few months ago.
It was then that he had authority in Allegro.
He'd also visited the other guardians when he had the chance, but instead, did not stay with them.
Most of them were renowned teachers and experts in each of their fields. That was the reason he'd managed to be so well-versed in various topics. His upbringing only contributed to one small portion of it.
"They won't be glad to see me. Hmm, let's see, there's Mister Liam, Master Akira, Stone Lion, Indifference and Kiter."
"Those are the ones that live in Allegro, but Stone Lion and Indifference are dead. Which leaves me with Liam, Akira-sama and Kiter."
Stone Lion died from over-training. No matter how sturdy or strong the human body was, it was still human. And as for Indifference, he committed suicide; the reason? No one knew why.
"I'll start with Kiter. From what Gaia said about the spirit that contracted me and from my observations, my weaponry won't be limited to Shiloh or Zephyr very soon. I never learnt from him the first time, but better late than never."
Hugo made his firm decision and had already packed his things midst analysis. He stopped thinking when he was done and left everything else to the world.
After saying goodbye to Ruki and the Oda's, he left for Kiter's mansion on the other side of Allegro.
Kiter lived in the Alpha region, as most of the older Skydancers did. But Kiter wasn't that old he was relatively young compared to old monsters like Gaia, however, he still chose to live among them for a simple reason.
Though the Alpha region was the permanent resident of the old gen Skydancers, many aspiring Skydancers travelled there from all over the world to seek tutelage under these older Dancers.
If the Theta region was the centre of commerce and business in Allegro, then the Alpha region was the geographical zone that contained the concentration of power, experience and schools.
"Hey, Gaia. I'm heading to the Hovership Port."
"Yeah, to meet up with Kiter."
Hugo was conversing with Gaia over his communicator. He felt the need to tell the lonely old man where he was going just in case something happened. At first glance, it just seemed like Hugo cared for the old man.
But it was just a means of assurance. If something happened to him while he stayed with Kiter; with the worst case being death, then he knew Gaia or Ruki would avenge him. It was a failsafe plan he'd come up with after years of making mistakes.
"Yes, I'm practising Archery now."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hugo frowned at Gaia's statement but couldn't do anything about it, instead, he just opted to hang up before the old man could say anything more.
"Bye, I'm hanging up. Make sure you don't tell the rest I'm not in Theta anymore!"
Hugo sighed, though with less energy than before. The coming months were going to be longer than he thought.
[Departure to F City of the Alpha Region will take place in 10 minutes. Make sure you are seated in the waiting area!]
An electronic voice gave a helpful notice reminding him of how close he was to leaving his usual environment. F city was always a fun place to be; except for some days where he went there on business.
[Departure to F city will take place in 2 minutes. All customers should head to the respective boarding ports!]
At those words, many of the people seated headed for a specific barding port, forming a long line as they did so. But that wasn't so for Hugo. As an influential character in the State and as a Skydancer, he had access to the First-class boarding port and accommodations.
Meaning he wouldn't have to queue up to enter the Hovership, and he'd have access to all the best services that particular Hoverline could offer.
And from the looks of it, he wasn't the only one with those privileges. Heading towards the boarding port with him were two fat men that held scantily dressed women by the waists; most likely corrupt officials enjoying their time before going to jail.
Apart from the four unfortunate individuals, there was also a fellow with dull black hair and clear white eyes. The man looked just a bit older than Hugo, but he looked more dangerous, by a long mile.
Wrapped around his arms were two metal chains that marked him as a person not to be trifled with.
"Umph."
As the man caught sight of Hugo, he grunted and gave a small nod as acknowledgement. Hugo did the same but still added another target to observe on his list.
The strange man was the A-rank Dancer, Inferno Hound. He was a lone Dancer, unaffiliated with any country or private force. But the others had a special name for him; The Hitman of the Association.
The man only accepted specific types of missions; Manhunts and Assassinations. The other ones he did were never issued by others. If one saw him killing monsters, then he was doing it on his own accord.
Though, manhunts were not missions that a normal Skydancer would accept; mostly because they were probably high-profiled ones. As for assassinations, it was the job that the Hitman Association would accept. So if a Skydancer accepted it, then it would seem odd.
Not to mention those assassinations would leave a target on their backs.
'I should stay away from that guy. I know I'm strong, but that dude is a killer on another level.'
Hugo could pridefully say he'd taken many lives, but that number would surely be dwarfed by the man with strange fashion.
'Someone that takes assassination missions is not someone to mess with.'
That was right, if you were hunted by the Skydancer Association (a non-profit organization) then you are a popular person who the world would not want to lose easily.
Just as Hugo was thinking of that certain issue, a commotion arose from one of the other boarding ports next to them.
With a single careful look, he noticed the destination of the one who made the noise.
"INFERNO HOUND!!"
Hugo looked back to the guy on the other end of the commotion.
'This guy again…'
Inferno Hound gave an expressionless look at the loud person. It was a young adult (maybe 22 years) that made the noise. He wore a sleek black suit that almost made him seem charismatic, but apart from that, his features were average and not very noteworthy.
"YOU KILLED MY BROTHER! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!!!"
Hugo managed to give a dry smile at the classic revenge line.
'Heard this one a lot. I reckon Inferno Hound has heard this even more than I have.'
However, things took an expected turn when the guy pulled out an old-fashioned pistol from his coat pocket and grabbed the closest person to him, who happened to be a young boy holding a lollipop.
"Try bringing your dogs out and this boy dies!" The man bellowed.
His words didn't have a single shred of hesitation. The mark of someone who'd lost his sanity a long while ago. But that didn't mean Inferno Hound had any plan to halt action or let the boy die in doing so.
He noticed Hugo's gaze, and for once let someone else take care of issues for him. With Hugo's keen eye, he noticed the nod; a universal signal and hatched his plan to rescue the boy.
Hugo exuded small amounts of Black Matter at varying lengths in time until it got big enough to make a simple construct; a dark dagger that radiated Black Matter Particles.
The difference between the pure Black Matter constructs and the summons gotten from Black Matter Conjuring was Genesis, the spirit born of weaponry.
Weapons gotten from Black Matter Conjuring had special abilities because of the spirit, whereas if Hugo did them himself, the conjures would exude stray Black Matter. But where Genesis had a hand in conjuring, it would absorb all the stray Black Matter Particles, giving the weapon a smooth exterior.
However, this weapon did not have any such privilege. It was only a simple construct compared to a complex conjuration. but this crude structure was enough to take care of the job that lay in front.
Hugo gripped hold of the dagger that appeared in the area behind his back and squeezed it tight to prepare for the attack. One flaw in the enemy's motion would be his opening, and if the enemy didn't have any flaws, he'd just have to use brute force.
****
Important Note: If you've read this book till here, then you know I'm a generally unprepared guy. This book is the completely rewritten and revamped version of a book I wrote on wattpad, I didn't plan that one a lot and for the earlier chapters I also didn't plan this one. However, I have planned the before and after scenes better which made some plotholes due to the contradiction in my words.
Meaning, there might be some issues with future events that I'd already mentioned in past chapters. Like the issue of magic where I stated it was classified under Awakenings (I've corrected it don't worry). To put it simply, there will be quite a few plotholes regarding issues I didn't expound upon earlier in the book.