"Eternal flare technique; Lower spark Bombardment," Once the fourth day of Luke's month-long training began a sparring session was held at the branch department
The searing ground became the battlefield of the Purifying Cremators. They were Grave Keepers specializing in wielding flames to combat the dead. But as of this moment, a match was held by a cremator and a visitor from afar
"Are you sure about this? You're seniors had already asked me for a round and look at them. All bruised and filled with fear,"
"That's not your decision to make, Ms. Erica. I made a vow to grow strong. Whether I lose has never once mattered," William stood his ground and conjured his flames indicating his refusal to withdraw even in the hour of her mercy
"Very well then, if you say so then I'll do my best, not to kill you, I've warned you, but I can't say no to a fight!!!"
The air around her suddenly whirls as an energy exudes quite violently and with no further need of restraint she sprints. William already had his technique prepared and waited for a close distance bout for a sure hit attack. It not only made his foe suffer the full force of his attack but also the recoil and with another explosion he recovered his footing
"Did that do her in-" A moment was enough for a person to know of a threat but for a Keeper it was but an instance he felt death
He conjured an explosion from his feet sending him flying to the air as a figure smashed the ground where he once stood. William thought he could at the very least escape and prolong the fight but a chain sent by his foe prevented his capture. Erica tugged the chain with all her might giving William no time to cast a counter and upon collision, he felt the fist of his foe
"Three moves… I thought my men were exaggerating but I guess I underestimated you. As expected from one of the Ten families' descendants. You truly live to the name of your ancestors," The branch members along with William were escorted to the medical tent and the manager handed Erica a cloth
"You praise me too much, Branch Manager. Please refrain from doing so. Praises are nothing but mere distractions," She wipes off her sweat and proceeds with her daily training as the rest of the abled members are struck with fear
'Three moves? It wasn't seen in the smoke but I felt the need to block his attack, the firepower was different. That kid… as long as he keeps his destructive desire then he wouldn't advance. I heard he had a teacher who taught him to change but upon his death, it looks like he regressed. I've felt his immense bloodlust, it didn't feel like a desire but more or less near the borderline of Obsession,'
"It's a shame that Lord Arthur isn't here. He might take an interest in Ms. Erica's talents. But he never once visited-"
"Did you just say, Lord!!?" She dashes over to the branch manager as quickly as she can upon hearing the mention of a Lord
"Ms. Erica!!? Don't scare me like that. Then again it's been a while since I've seen him. The last time I talked with him was regarding the investigation of the Grave Robber. He volunteered saying he'd take on the job in our stead as long as our side didn't intervene with his methods,"
"But isn't that against the Organization's rules to hand over a Branch manager's authority even if the person has a higher rating," Although she was young Erica comprehended the risk they'd have to take considering the Organization's rules are absolute
"I'm glad you're not skipping your lessons in contrast to your grades. I knew you were well educated but this matter is something far greater than what you've read. Logically the rules are absolute, but there's a loophole if it threatens the lives of the branch department it is stated. If a Grave Keeper with a higher rating can solve the crisis they'll be granted special authority to overrule the manager,"
'Looking from their point of view the recent activities of the undead are far greater than they could resolve. A threat level three instantaneously became a threat level five in a matter of seconds due to a Grave Robber. Those miscreants are already a hassle but too easily empower an undead to greater heights are out of the control of a branch department,'
"Then where's the Lord right now?" As Erica asked the Branch manager he tapped his watch revealing a holographic map of their surroundings and along with its recent hotspots
"This is the map layout of Reigous Pines. Every night we scout these places and find mutilated corpses and a flash. The Lord makes quick work of these areas and inlaid his array to keep the civilians at bay. In our Branch's current standing, we'd be dead tired of clearing these zones. We'll hardly get enough sleep or recover our strength it's a miracle that the Lord was here," The branch manager showed some images they took of the slaughtered corpses by Alexander alone
'This is insanely well done. Although I'm just a novice, the cut, and strength needed for this singular slash are beyond me. The positioning of the blade as well as the volume of Order is outrageous, to say the least. Even if it's my father I hardly doubt he can make such a refined attack as this, and he was someone revered to be in the rank of a Lord. Just who the hell is this person? The timing of the subjugations only had a difference of 5 seconds? You're telling me he killed them all in a flash?'
…
At the same time inside Alexander's Array
"Today I'll teach you how to use one of the Black Crow assassination groups' techniques; Darkness,"
"Darkness? That's the name? Seriously for an assassination group, I thought you guys had a cool name for your techniques,"
"The name fits well as this ability suggests, the first step is channeling your Order, after that try focusing on your shadow,"
Alexander demonstrates this by channeling his Order to his right hand and shaping his arm into a hand-chop. The shadow below resembles a blade and as he focuses more on the shadow of his arm it solidifies turning his arm black. The result ends with Alexander gaining a blade attached to his arm which he used to eviscerate the test dummy
"Black Crow arts; Black edge," Once his demonstration was over he withdrew his Order from his arm, and the shadow lost its form returning to his side
"That's awesome! So Darkness allows the user to give the shadow a structure of its own. So this technique makes the shadow gain mass, sharpness, durability, and elasticity to be used as a weapon. Does this mean we can also make things like a long-range weapon to kill someone and after it runs out of Order it leaves no evidence," Alexander clapped at his incredible deduction of an ability he just performed for the first time to his student
"Shadow manipulation needs a large amount of Order. You're not only conjuring but adding a shit ton of attributes. This makes learning this skill problematic as a Keeper's Order output is predetermined by birth. You can still improve your output as you grow but you'll have to be a genius or someone with a major backer," Luke was pumped up to train but it faded when he saw his teacher walking closer to the exit of the array
"Hey, I thought you were gonna teach me! How am I gonna learn this if you aren't here? Come on, teach, I need to improve!"
"Sorry, but there's not much help I can do with that. Your mastery will depend on yourself. So yeah good luck—" Luke lunges to hit Alex on his rear but a wall suddenly appears taking the full force of his attack leaving not a scratch
"I guess I've been too considerate of you that you've forgotten my true nature, kid. Since you're unreasonable then it's naturally my duty as your master to discipline you. In a minute or so this whole place will become a death trap and to escape you must create a cut strong enough to escape. I've already tampered with my array so that only an attack made by a blade can destroy its walls,"
"Wait, teacher, I was wrong—" The door shuts in syncing to the pleading of his disciple and he sighs upon receiving an alarming signal from his miniature array
'Someone has the balls to enter Luke's house uninvited? Who are they? Did the Organization discover my recent acts!!?'
Alexander disappeared from the forest once he walked through the shadows and with this as a medium he warps. Using the shadows he treads a path using the shade as his way until he reaches the house of his disciple. His body remained enshrouded with shade making him hidden in the dark as he walked closer to the invader
'Hmmm… this person's demeanor is rather weak. Did they send someone to scout my disciple? But at this level Luke would struggle a little to escape but if they're not alone… then hats off to them they'll be capable of abducting him until backup arrives for the extraction. Too bad for you I already anticipated that there's a chance someone from the Elders wouldn't agree with the plan,'
Alexander lunges and punches the intruder with enough force to send them napping on the floor. After that, he took the perpetrators to the woods, tying them upside down in the woods and splashing water for them to awaken. The intruder pants, and to instill enough fear in their hearts Royce remains in the shadows whereas his eyes glew blood red
"You have a lot of nerve–"
"Please this is all a misunderstanding! I'm just trying to find an acquaintance of mine. I just got discharged from the hospital. The nurse asked me to give him his belongings since he forgot to take them back. I didn't mean any harm, not even the slightest. Please don't kill me! I'm innocent!! The only crime I did my entire life was to lie to the internet about my age to watch por–"
"Okay okay okay I get it! It's you right? I've heard that voice before. You're uh William Blaze am I correct?"
William was confused as to why his kidnapper knew his name but shortly it suddenly made all sense. "That's my name but how did you know– Oh dear! It's you!! Lord Keeper! I finally got to meet you. It's quite an honor, sir!!!"