The reason Heero was interested in the dungeon was because of its similarity to his old world, Dramonia.
The first dungeon was a familiar environment to the Beast's territory and the second dungeon was the core territory of the Specters.
He wanted to explore the dungeon to see if it had any connection to his old world. After all, he had a Master, whom he regarded as a father, and the seven mothers who had cared for him since the loss of his family.
He also had an unfinished business on Dramonia, his revenge. Even though he had given up his dream of being a hero, he had not given up his revenge.
"Hah..." Heero sighed as his unpleasant past flashed through his mind.
Thump! Bang! Snap!
A series of footsteps echoed as the ground shook a little. It was the sign of his disciples returning from their running routine.
Wearing training rings weighing up to twenty kilos, the ground was bound to shake a little as 162 people ran.
Not long after, the door to the martial arts hall was opened. Kang Dong-Woo and Xu Lingxun were the first to enter the hall.
Both of them had stable breathing despite the long distance they had run. There was no sweat on their faces as if they were walking instead of running.
Their condition contrasted with that of the children following them. Their faces were covered in sweat and their breathing was ragged after the long run.
Some of them looked as if they were going to faint at any moment, while others were in fairly good condition.
Kang Dong-Woo and Xu Lingxun rushed to Heero's side as 162 children lined up in the martial arts hall.
With his hand crossed on his chest, Heero announced with a broad grin, "Good, you have 15 minutes to rest before we continue training. I have prepared a little event for you!"
Whoaaa!!!
The kids let out a huge gasp as they dropped to the floor. They were so exhausted after the long run.
Among the hundreds, two kids remained standing, Benjamin Rowland Kingsman and Kim Hyun-Su.
Among the hundreds, both of them could be said to be the best. But their physical fitness was still far behind that of Dong-Woo and Xu Lingxun.
"Is there something on your mind?" Heero asked as he smiled friendly at the children.
"When? When are you going to teach us for real? It's been two months and all we've done is run around with those damn rings on our bodies? When are you going to really teach us like you taught your two students!" Kim Hyun-su burst out.
Kim Hyun-su let go of the emotions he had been holding in for the past month. Anger, feelings of injustice, and jealousy were all mixed together.
The 2nd Prince of the Royal Kingdom also had his solemn eyes fixed on Heero. Obviously, he had the same problem as Ki Hyun-Su.
Heero just shook his head. He was not disappointed in his disciples of the first generation. He had expected this
"I told you, your body still cannot handle it. You need a strong body to learn my secret technique, but your body is not strong enough to learn it. Your body is not refined enough," Heero patiently explained to the children.
"How can that be true? Even though they have a stronger body, they are just a little bit stronger than me. I think my body can handle your secret technique!" The 2nd prince refuted strongly.
He admitted that the current Kang Dong-Woo and Xu Lingxun were much stronger than him. But he lost to them because of their secret technique, not because of their physical fitness.
'Haha... Perfect! I was waiting for you to say that.'
Heero smiled at Benjamin and clapped his hand, "Then let's prove it with a game!"
"You guys rest first, we will start the game in 15 minutes,"
15 minutes later...
Heero gathered the kids in the centre of the fighting hall. He made two circles 2 metres in diameter.
Kang Dong-Woo and Xu Lingxun stood in the middle of the circle. Dong-Woo grinned happily while Xu Lingxun smiled.
"You! And you! Come forward!" Heero pointed at Benjamin and Kim Hyun-Su.
The two kids were still confused, but they stepped forward anyway.
"You said that Dong-Woo and Lingxun were a bit stronger in physical fitness, right?"
The two children nodded their heads. They believed that because they had been fed on beast meat since they were five years old. Beast meat was good for the body, and with their background, they did not lack resources like beast meat.
"Good, then choose four people and push them out of the circle. If you can push them out of the circle, I will teach you my secret technique. How about it, deal?"
Heero thought the kids would immediately accept the offer. But to his surprise, the two children frowned. They seemed to dislike the game.
"What's wrong? Don't you want to prove to me that your body is strong enough to learn my secret technique?" Heero smiled at the children.
"Yes, but I am alone enough. I don't need their help, I'll do it alone!" Benjamin replied confidently.
"Hm, I am more than enough!" Kim Hyun-Su immediately agreed with Benjamin's statement.
'Hoho... What a proud child, aren't you?'
They are just like Dong-Woo. Well, I will crush their pride first...'
"Fine, you can do it on your own, but with one condition. If you fail to push one of them out of the circle, you will have to run again. Double the distance and the training circles, deal?"
Heero readily agreed, with a certain amount of punishment of course.
Seeing how confident Heero was, Kim Hyun-Su shook a little. He looked at Kang Dong-Woo doubtfully.
Benjamin also hesitated when he heard the condition. He could still cope with the current running routine, but if the distance and weights were doubled, he might collapse while running.
Benjamin looked at Heero before turning to Xu Lingxun. The man who had beaten him in the Fighter Anteriority knew how strong his opponent was, but his pride refused to let him back down.
He gritted his teeth and stepped forward, "Fine, I agree!"
Benjamin stepped in front of Xu Lingxun.
Kim Hyun-Su was still hesitant, but he stepped forward when Benjamin agreed to the condition.
"Me too!"
It's just running with some weights, I can finish it easily! Kim Hyun-Su thought to himself. He did not realise that he thought he would lose before the game started.
"Well, you can start whenever you are ready~" Heero nodded as a playful smile appeared.
Kang Dong-Woo and Xu Lingxun stood straight with a flat expression, showing no emotion.
But deep inside, Kang Dong-Woo was quite smug. He had experienced this before, his opponent was Butcher Wang. He was completely destroyed when he failed to push Butcher Wang even a millimetre.
He was so frustrated back then. But now, these guys would be the ones who would be frustrated. Somehow that made him quite happy.
Benjamin and Kim Hyun-Su did not start the game right away. They circled around their opponents.
After hesitating for a moment, Benjamin stepped into the circle and faced Xu Lingxun directly.
"I'm going to push you out of the circle, be prepared!" Benjamin said as he took a deep breath.
Xu Lingxun just smiled and stood still. He put his hand on his back and waited for Benjamin to push him.
Benjamin hugged Xu Lingxun and pushed him with all his might.
"Kurghhh!" Benjamin grunted heavily, but to no avail.
He looked down and saw that he could not even push the guy. He changed his stance and tried again with all his might.
The same happened to Kim Hyun-su. He used all his strength to push Kang Dong-Woo out of the circle. But he failed, Dong-Woo didn't even move from his place. He tried several stances, but all of them ended in failure.
It was as if the guy in front of them was a wall. No matter how hard they tried, they could not move it.
After ten minutes of trying, Kim Hyun-Su and Benjamin gave up.
Lying on the floor with all four of them, they both declared dejectedly, "I give up! I lost!"
However, with a smile on his face, he turned to the remaining students and said, "Do you want to try? If you want to try, form a group of five and push them out!"
"If you manage to push them out, I will teach you my secret technique. There will be no punishment even if you fail!"
*** ***
Meanwhile, in a private building in the core region, the Legendary Class Rankers gathered, twenty-five of them once again.
"It's time to begin our plan! His two dangerous disciples have gone on a mission, it's our chance to get closer to him! Park Haneul informed the other rankers with an evil grin.
The other Legendary Class Rankers nodded their heads.
"We will start with a soft approach! I will go to him and make him our offer! If the soft approach fails, then I will leave it to you, Leader!"
Everyone in the room turned to one person. It was an old man with small eyes. Although his face was old and wrinkled, his hair was dyed black.
As everyone's attention focused on the old man. The old man opened his eyes and smiled kindly, "Leave it to this old man, I will not let you all down~."
Ryong Chong-Shik of the Ryong Family, Legendary Class Ranker - Rank 1. The leader of the Ranker Alliance.