Haruka stood before the delectable array of meat skewers, considering her options. Kenjuro, eyes wide longing for the delicious treats, drooled over the food.
Haruka couldn't help but giggle at his childlike enthusiasm and reassured him, "You can buy whatever you want."
Kenjuro, tears brimming in his eyes, responded with heartfelt gratitude, "Thank you" He hugged Haruka like a kid hugging his mother for buying candy for them. Haruka playfully chided him, "Alright, alright, just buy it, no need to cry."
As they purchased their meat skewers, a commotion began to stir nearby. Curiosity piqued, Haruka and Kenjuro followed the sounds to find a growing crowd in the city center.
Haruka, intrigued by the commotion, went to investigate, while Kenjuro had already started to eat his meat skewers.
Haruka thought to herself, "Seriously what's wrong with martial artists? What kind of martial artists start a fight in the middle of a city where there are innocent bystande….."
Before Haruka could finish this thought she looked closer at one of the martial artists because he kind of seemed familiar. Haruka suddenly dropped all the meat skewers and the shopping bags that contained many mangas to the ground in shock.
Poor Kenjuro seeing Haruka drop the meat skewers, fell on the ground and cried" MY MEAT!!!" he shed tears as if he had lost a loved one.
Kenjuro looked at Haruka while crying looked at Haruka. As soon he looked at Haruka, he stopped crying and he looked at the pissed-off face of Haruka who realized one of the people starting the fight was her son Shinra.
Haruka's anger was a formidable force to reckon with, even though she lacked any martial arts or magical abilities. She was generally a kind-hearted woman, but when provoked or angered, her fury was unmatched, especially when it concerned Shinra.
.....
The tension was palpable, the air thick with the clash of auras as Shinra and Yuta faced each other. I could feel it, even from where I stood with the meat skewer still hanging from my mouth.
The energy in the air pressed against my chest, the thickening aura making everything seem heavier, more oppressive.
My gaze flickered over to the confrontation, where the two of them were locked in a stare, each of their auras radiating different colors—Shinra's fiery cyan determination and Yuta's calm, sapphire intensity.
Yuta stood tall, his noble aura as smooth and brilliant as the finest sapphire, his appearance as pristine and refined as any aristocrat.
His white hair seemed to shimmer like freshly fallen snow, and his fair complexion added to the impression of someone carved from the highest pedestal of nobility.
Even though he hailed from a small noble guild like Eldoria, everything about him screamed aristocracy, the way he carried himself, the way he walked, with an elegance that couldn't be faked.
As he stopped in his tracks and glanced at Kagusa, then toward Shinra, his voice sliced through the thick air. "Shinra," he called, his tone cold, almost imperious. "What is the meaning of this?"
The words rang in the air, and I saw the effect it had on Shinra. The question seemed to pierce through him, shaking his confidence.
Shinra might be strong, but even he knew that he was no match for someone like Yuta. I could see it in his eyes—doubt. He was faltering, and it frustrated him. His body was frozen, his aura wavering, and I could sense the turmoil inside him.
Still, Shinra had his hands on his sword.
If this continued, things could go bad if I didn't step in. It was time to use my newly acquired skill.
I coldly whispered to myself, "Stealth" and in the blink of an eye, I was beside Yuta with my hands on the handle of his sword which he was ready to unsheathe his sword. I stopped him from unsheathing his sword and said,
"That's enough"
Obviously, Yuta was shocked. He didn't sense my presence. That was what the skill stealth did, it is a movement technique that helps the user to move fast with minimal movements without others noticing.
It is mainly a skill assassins used and was something I knew very well. Although before I didn't have to literally say the word stealth to go to stealth. As soon as I finished my thought, the system window appeared:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
[You don't have to say stealth to activate said skill]
[ You can activate it just by thinking about it.]
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
I blankly stared at the new pop-up message. A little heads-up would have been nice.
Meanwhile, the guy Yuta was definitely shocked because it was unexpected but when he got back to his senses he looked at me pointing his killing intent that was directed to Shinra towards me.
I chuckled a bit, was he seriously trying to emanate killing intent toward me?
I looked back into his soul and emitted a cold yet fiery crimson red killing intent towards him.
Who does he think I am? I killed thousands if not millions of people with no remorse and you dare use killing intent toward me. My killing intent was only focused on him, that's how much control I had over my killing intent.
I looked towards him and whispered coldly towards him, "Mind where you point that killing intent"
He was overwhelmed by the killing intent I emitted because he must have never experienced killing intent of that caliber even from the grand elders of his guild.
He looked around and saw the commotion that we caused.
After calmly analyzing the situation, he slowly retracted his aura back
Kagusa's face twisted in indignation. "You dare to bump into me, threaten me, and now you? The nerve of—"
But before he could finish, Yuta cut him off with a sharp command. "Shut up."
I could almost feel the tension snap. Kagusa opened his mouth to protest, but Yuta turned to him with a look so cold, so filled with authority, that the words died in Kagusa's throat. "I said shut up," Yuta repeated, his voice low and deadly. "Don't make me repeat it."
Kagusa, to my surprise, actually quieted down. It was something I didn't expect from him, but Yuta's presence left no room for disobedience. With a look of quiet disappointment, Yuta turned his gaze back to me before nodding his head and signaling his departure. Kagusa followed closely behind, leaving me to reflect on the scene.
I couldn't help but notice Yuta analyzing my cultivation level.
Core Establishment Stage 1, he must have thought. Perhaps he thought he must have mistaken it. But that was his mistake—he had underestimated me. Not that it mattered, though. He wasn't my target.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
NEW SKILL CREATED:
KILLING INTENT [?] [PASSIVE]
"THE RANK FOR THIS SKILL CANT BE COMPUTED BECAUSE THE NO OF DEATHS THE USER HAS CAUSED IS INCOMPUTABLE, THEREFORE THE OUTPUT OF THE SKILL WILL INCREASE AS THE LEVEL OF THE USER INCREASES"
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
I looked at the system window kind of surprised at receiving a new skill. It seemed like I could gain skills only if I could use it with my current weak body.
[?] rank?
I read the description below the skill and it made sense. I was a bit confused as to why Yuta didn't succumb to my killing intent. Any normal person even those at the martial supreme level would be disoriented when faced with my killing intent.
Anyways as the crowd began to disperse, their expectations of a fight dashed, Shinra turned to me, his expression a mix of frustration and confusion. "Why did you do that? we just showed that the Arcane Guild is spineless."
I gave him a level stare, my voice steady. "If you didn't notice, he's already at Martial Apprentice Stage 1. You're in Core Establishment Stage 5, and even if you're one stage below him, the gap between the core establishment realm and martial apprentice realm is massive."
"Even if we fought together, he would've won," I told him coldly.
It was the harsh truth. Killing intent was a spiritual attack, it's more of a gimmick If you don't have the strength to back it up.
Shinra looked like he wanted to argue, but I could see the frustration flicker in his eyes. "Still..." he muttered. To be honest he knew it deep down.
I let out a small sigh. "I don't know why you hate them so much, but we can't take him on right now. Not until we're stronger. The only way to reach him is by working even harder. You know as well as I do that we need better martial techniques if we're going to get anywhere. When the time comes, we'll be ready to fight back. You have to learn which battles are worth fighting."
Shinra's eyes widened. "What martial techniques? There are no other techniques in the Arcane Guild besides the Twelve Scales of the Dragon Blade."
That stopped me in my tracks. My mind raced as I processed this new information.
No other techniques?
what the fuck?
But before I could think much more about it, I felt a shift in the air. My senses picked up on a menacing presence behind us.
I turned, and there she was—Haruka, Shinra's mother.
She was holding a slipper in her hand, and her expression was the definition of fury. I could almost hear the thud of her footsteps as she approached. Shinra's face drained of color, and he gulped nervously.
Haruka's voice was icy as she spoke, her tone deadly calm. "Arcane Chappal Style.... Tortuous Chappal."
That was the moment Shinra knew he fucked up.
I could already see Kenjuro praying to let Shinra's soul rest in peace.
May his soul rest in peace.....
.....