"Puhahahaha! Are you serious right now?" Dante ask in a serious tone.
"I'm dead serious." Kal said showing no doubts in his face.
"I don't like fooling around Kal. I may look gentle but if you dare to lie to me, I'll make sure to cut your tongue off. I don't care if you're Dontrelle's brother, you must've forgotten that we are still complete strangers, you don't know what I can do so make sure you're telling the truth or else..." Dante sounded infuriated. He was emitting murderous aura as he unsheathed half of his rapier from its scabbard.
'This aura is just as frightening as Jennifer's. What the hell did I do? I was just telling the truth.' Kal said to himself. He was sweating profoundly and he swallowed down his nervous saliva. He remained composed as it is and didn't flinch from the murderous vibe Dante was giving off.
"Dante stop!" Lin Wei called out Dante. Dante immediately released his murderous aura after hearing her calls.
"Kal, if what you're saying is true, let's spar. I'll suppress my powers to a D-rank while you show me that you've progress to the dagger art." Lin Wei said to Kal in a soft manner and Kal simply nodded to it. Dante was still infuriated but remained silent as they went to the training hall to spar.
Kal and Lin Wei change to their training suits and both used the same practice daggers. Lin Wei suppressed his powers down to Kal's level while Kal also suppressed his own to E-rank because he didn't want Dante and Lin Wei to find out he was already a D-rank.
Both entered their positions as soon as they finish equipping themselves. Dante was the referee of the sparring session.
"The rules are simple: the two of you will only use the techniques in Blade dancer and if one of you can hit their opponent 10 times or if they forfeited, it will be considered as a win or if Kal can execute the precise movements of the Blade dancer will also be considered a win." Dante said to the two of them. As soon as Dante gestured to start, both started clashing.
"Now show me Kal what you've learned." Lin Wei said as he dashed towards Kal like slithering snake. Her movements were peculiar. She waved her blades to Kal as if to taunt him and she use her body to make Kal focus on her more not knowing her daggers were moving near to his throat.
'This is the bewitching effect of the blade dance, if you mastered the blade dance, you should be able to block it but it seems like you're already bewitched by my movements. Well then the match is ove-" Lin Wei said in thought as she was about to lightly struck her dagger to Kal's neck but suddenly she was startled for a brief moment.
As Kal started to counteract, his movement seemed so fast that Lin Wei saw him in a blur.
'What the?' Lin Wei was surprised as her blade had only hit Kal's after image. She quickly averted her view to her side and twist her hips as he saw Kal ready to slash his daggers. Luckily, Lin Wei was able to avoid the attack and was only grazed a bit but it still counted as a hit so Lin Wei quickly backed away in a few meters.
"You were able to counterattack me with your speed and even evade my bewitching effect, it seems to me that you have learned a lot from just watching it but this isn't eno-" Before Lin Wei could finish her words, Kal suddenly trotted at her in full speed. His body looked very blurry but he was moving straight ready to land a powerful strike. It should've been easy to dodge the incoming attack but Lin Wei was suddenly put in a state of shock after realizing she couldn't move her body.
'Did he manage to put me in a bewitching state!? No! His movements are far too complex to be the bewitching method. If I were bewitched, I should've lowered my guard but what is this overwhelming pressure that I can't even move my feet to dodge? Wait, did Kal tweak the blade dance to his own comfort!?' Lin Wei was dumbstruck by the situation. Their ranks were easily distinguishable from night and day but the aura Kal was emitting surpassed hers. It felt like watching a battle between a Black Mamba and a Titanoboa, the obvious result would be the Titanoboa's win.
'If I don't dodge this, it might end up badly!' Lin Wei said as she tried to rattle her mind. She wanted to escape from this situation the best she could and out of instinct, she suddenly her true powers. She removed her restriction and out of thought, she grazed her two daggers to deflect the incoming strike.
Bam!
As her daggers and Kal's collide. The difference in the two's power was too clear. As the heavy power overwhelmed Kal, he could feel his wrist snap and his arm dislocated as Kal was quickly blasted meters away and crashed hard to the barrier. The bones in her body all suffered badly and red damage indicator popped up in his head and a window panel averted in his view.
-320 HP!
Ting~
YOUR HEALTH HAS SHARPLY FALLEN TO 10%
-You have been weakened by 80%!
-Skills have been locked!
-You have been paralyzed!
'Crap! I shouldn't have messed with a B-ranker.' Kal clicked his tongue in regret as vomit blood. He was fully drenched in blood and soon his consciousness would fade if wasn't immediately treated. The damage he accumulated was too much that he couldn't even lift a single finger. The only thing he could do was move his mouth a bit.
"I'm.....sorry." Kal ask for forgiveness and tears fell on his eyes. Lin Wei immediately realized the grave mistake she had done and quickly went to help Kal, Dante who was completely shocked by the revelation hasted to Kal and brought him to his arm ready to bring him to the hospital.
"Lin what the hell did you do!? I told you to supress your powers but you didn't! The kid is in the brink of death thanks to you!" Dante shouted in anger at Lin Wei. The furiousity Dante had pent up was all driven to Lin Wei who regretted all her decisions.
"I'm sorry! I stepped out of line! It was my mistake!" Lin Wei immediately apologized to Dante as she bowed her head. She had teary eyes and felt ashamed to her actions,
"I shouldn't have trusted you Lin if this was what you're gonna do. This is so unlike you, you're a very kindhearted woman and always think before you acted but what you displayed was very unprofessional. If this kid dies, I will never forgive you!" Dante gritted his teeth acted showed an expression filled with rage and regret. Lin Wei quickly burst to tears after hearing Dante's spiteful words.
"Please forgive me! Here! It's a potion that will heal his injuries! Let him drink this." Lin Wei brought out a red liquid substance that was placed in a glass bottle. Dante quickly snatched it from her hands and opened it. Dante slowly poured the liquid substance to Kal's half opened mouth and Kal who was half conscious drank the liquid substance down to his troath. He immediately felt the effects of the substances as green health indicators popped up above his head,
+100 HP
+100 HP
+100 HP
+20 HP!
Ting~
YOU'RE HEALTH IS NOW FULL!
-All the debuffs have disappeared!
As the window panel appeared in his eyes, the wounds he accumulated, the damaged organs, the broken bones, and the snapped veins were all fixed in an instant. His conscious also returned and Kal quickly gasped for air and was brought down his feet by Dante who showed a very joyful expression.
"Phuaaa! I survived." Kal said as he exhaled a breath of fresh air.
"Are you okay now Kal?" Dante asked Kal with a very worried look.
"Other than being covered by blood and ripped clothes, my body seems to be back to normal." Kal responded to Dante to reassure him that he is fine. Dante sighed in relief as he wiped off the blood in Kal's body with a towel.
"Kal, I'm truly sorry! I acted out and almost killed you! I'll accept any punishment that you wish!" Lin Wei knelt down to Kal and sincerely apologized. Tears continued to pour in her eyes and and snot run through her nose. Kal watch her pitiable act and felt bad.
"No, no! It was my fault, I didn't know that my bewitching effect would work on you and acted recklessly, you only moved by your instinct so it's not something you should apologize with." Kal refrained to acer her apology and felt horrible that someone was kneeling to him for apology when he was at fault. Dante had a questionable look on his face as to what had Kal said and immediately spoke.
"What do you mean bewitching effect? So you're telling me Lin didn't exert her power purposely? Lin is he saying the truth?" Dante had many things he wanted ask as he tried to ramble his mind to the situation. Lin Wei slowly stood up from the ground and wiped off her tears and snot. She then slowly explained herself as to why she acted that way.
"The blade dance is a dagger art that is compromise of steps which is executed by many movements of your body, so one who wishes to practice this art should have full control of each muscles, joints, organs and senses. A hunter must have high agility, high flexibility, high mentality, and high strength to be able to master this dagger art. Mainly, it specializes in combos and evasiveness but when you are able to reach the peak of this dagger art, you are able to learn the bewitching effect. By simply using this technique, you are able to control your opponent's mentality and put them in a state of delusion thus completely losing their sense of thinking but if the opponent has a mind of steel or a very high willpower, there's a high chance for them to withstand the bewitching effect that's why this effect is favorably used against weaker opponents who's minds are easy to manipulate. I have trained for 10 years mastering Blade Dancer so my bewitching effect can easily work against b-ranks, I could even bewitch an A-rank hunter so bewitching hunters those below my level would have been a piece of cake. When I tried to bewitch Kal, I thought it was successful since Kal didn't seemed to move or raise his guard but he fooled me. The bewitching effect didn't work on him in fact he use it to counteract by moving his body in a motion which would turn him to a blur so I couldn't tell which way he was moving. He surprised me when he appeared beside me just as I thought I landed a clean strike, he suddenly landed his own strike that my quick thinking was a latter late to react and was grazed a bit, though it didn't deal any damage since my defense not suppressed, it still took me aback. The reason why I instinctively use my real strength was because Kal started to bewitch, unlike the bewitching effects I had seen in my years, his was completely different. Bewitching effect would put you into a relaxation while cutting you off guard but Kal's bewitching effect not only cut you off guard, it also puts you into a state of fear. I was confident with my high mentality and willpower to not be easily faded but Kal's own was just too high that it completely overwhelmed me, if I didn't release my suppression, I could've died not by the physical damage but the mental shock that I might receive." Lin Wei thoroughly explained it to Dante. Dante was completely dumbfounded by what he heard but he couldn't doubt the words of a master martial artist and his long-time colleague.
"So-so your saying is that Kal is saying the truth? That he truly mastered the dagger art?" Dante asked in disbelief.
"I would've never believe that he had just learned this dagger art just last night if you didn't told me. Not only has he completely mastered such high-level dagger art, since this dagger art was mostly suitable for women, he made the dagger art his own." Lin Wei said to Dante assuring him that Kal as telling the truth.
"Thank you for the praises Ms.Lin Wei, so will you do your end of the bargain teacher Dante?" Kal asked with fluttering eyes and showing a gentle smile.
"Ye-yeah, of course. J-just go and get changed, I'll give the ID to you later." Dante said to Kal. Kal immediately left the shelter merrily as he quickly went home to get some change of clothes. Even though Kal's silhouette had disappear moments ago, they were still standing in the training hall looking at the distance where Kal had just disappeared with their face still filled with utter shock and awe. The momentarily brief of silence diminish after Dante spoke.
"I had high expectations of that kid ever since Dontrelle talked about him, when he showed me what he could do with his archery skills, I was amazed but after what he had just did, mastering a complex high-grade martial art in a whim change my whole perspective to him. In my whole life, I have seen dozens of geniuses master martial arts in a week or month, they turned into big shots afterwards, but what Kal did is simply unbelievable, if someone told me about this I wouldn't believe in my whole life but since I had checked his background history, what he currently knows and the proof of evidences, the talent he has showed us is just impeccable." Dante said to Lin Wei as he continue to watch the empty hall in the distance.
"He's a genius among geniuses, no he's just built different. He's a different breed among the hunters. He's an unmatched talent will shine brightly, now that we have seen such a monster, what shall we do?" Lin Wei asked Dante.
"For now, we must keep this a secret to everyone, even to the chairman, if rumors spread about Kal, numerous guilds, giant organizations and even all the nation will do everything in their hands to get a hold of him. His a hunter who can shook the entire world and he might- no, he will become the strongest hunter that will ever set foot in this giant of an earth." Dante said revealing a wide grin on his face.
Kal got changed and went straight back to the shelter hall, as he entered Dante's office, Dante and Lin Wei was waiting for him.
"Teacher, is my ID done?" Kal asked Dante.
"Let's talk first." Dante said in a serious manner. Kal seemed oblivious as to why the two were showing a grim expression.
"O-okay." Kal just abide and slowly sat at the sofa, where Lin Wei was sitting opposite to him.
"Kal, we know that you have something special that no one has." Dante said to Kal. Immediately, shivers crawled down his spine after hearing what Dante Sai.
'Crap! Did they know that I have a mysterious power?' Kal was shivering in thought. He tried to recall some memories as to where he might have slip up some words and all he could think about was the time he was on the hospital.
'I was speaking about the system to the nurse from the hospital in Zamboanga. I was sure she didn't believe me and thought I was joking but there's a good chance she must've told her superiors about it and the news got to them when they checked back my background. What are they gonna do? Are they gonna kidnap me and do experiments to my body? No! I should find an escape route but these guys are b-rank hunters, even if I distribute all my status points to agility, I don't think I can escape them. Even if there's a slim possibility for a probable escape, I'll risk it but for now, let's not be obvious and play along.' Kal said to himself. Sweat pour down his forehead and his eyes scanned his vicinity, he flinched and tremble and slowly respond.
"W-what is it?" Kal stuttered and showed a confused look on his face.
"You don't need to hide it, it's obvious just from the look of your face." Dante showed a light smile to Kal and replied light heartedly.
'He must've definitely known! That smile you're making may look genuine but behind that smile are hidden intentions! I won't let you get what you want from me!' Kal exclaimed in thought as he tried to calm himself down.
"I-i really don't know what you're saying. Can you care to explain?" Kal asked and repeated the same questionable look.
"Sigh, it seems you really don't know huh, then Lin, explain it to Kal." Dante sighed and spoke to Lin Wei. She showed a grin on her face and pulled out double-edged knife from her pocket.
'Is she gonna stab me so I won't be able to flee?' Kal exclaimed to himself and immediately posed a defensive stance. He swallowed his nervous saliva and strengthened his arms to try and defend the strike from the knife.
"Relax, I'm not gonna stab you." Lin Wei said to Kal and reassured him. She placed the knife on the table and Kal slowly drop his arms seeing that Lin Wei didn't mean any harm.
"This double-edged knife was an heirloom passed down to me from my diseased grandfather. This knife is not even a weapon since it doesn't contain any mana and the blade is dull. It's a key given to me but I don't know what lock it may open but I still carry it everywhere to remind me of my parents. What I live about this thing is that each blade are made equally so they for a balance. Try putting your index finger in the middle and you can see their balance." Lin Wei then gave the knife to Kal and Kal did as he was told. It balanced to his finger but there wasn't anything special to it other than it being equal of shape and wight.
"So what are you trying to say?" Kal asked Lin Wei and placed the knife back to the table.
"Just like how that knife keeps it's balance to your finger, the world also maintains its own equal balance. The history of the entire humanity has been into countless conflict but in the end, the balance is maintained. When we returned back to earth, the ecological balance was trampled down and the world WA sin it's uncontrollable state. Monsters ruled the world and wreak havoc to everything in its wake but after we arrived, our hastened knowledge and power gave us the tool to return the equal balance that the earth used to have. As years pass, we slowly returned the balance but it's still no certainty that everything has returned equally, since we only have explored 20% of the earth, we still don't know what is on 80% unexplored regions. There might be stronger monsters inhabiting those lands that may or will be a threat to the slowly rebuilt balance mankind has worked with their blood and sweat. This balance applies to humanity the same as how it works on monsters and mankind. There's a balance between the rich and the poor, the strong and and the weak and the genius and stupid. This had been remained balanced but if a variable appears that could shale the balance between the two, it could less likely mean a threat. An example of that variable is your existence." Lin Wei explained to Kal and pointed at him. Kal paused for a brief moment and react shock and confused,
"What? Me? H-how?"