Alex woke up in his bedroom, bandages wrapped around his body. He groaned slightly as he sat up, his mind replaying the brutal fight he had against that monstrous scorpion the day before. The memory of how he lost control—how he went berserk right before he was about to be killed—flashed through his head.
"How... did I even make it back to bed?" he muttered, glancing around the room in confusion.
He looked at the clock. 10:00 a.m.
With a sigh, he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
"You better get up or we'll be late."
Startled, Alex turned to the window to see Kazuki casually sitting on the ledge, arms crossed.
"What the hell are you doing in my house?" Alex asked, clearly annoyed.
"Quit whining and get ready," Kazuki said flatly. "We've got a big day ahead."
Still confused but too tired to argue, Alex sighed and jumped out of bed.
Later that morning, Alex, Serena, and Kazuki sat in a classroom, waiting. The air was quiet until the door opened, and Tomoa walked in.
"Listen up," he said, sternly. "Since your team failed the first test—to retrieve the energy stones from the Dead Forest—you're being assigned a team leader. Your next task is to fight him. If you can meet his expectations, you'll pass."
Tomoa gave them one last glance before turning to leave. "Do your best, kids."
As the door closed behind him, Serena leaned toward the others. "Wait... if he's a team leader, doesn't that mean he's an A-rank assassin or something?"
Alex scoffed. "Rank or not, if that bastard thinks he can beat me, he's in for a surprise."
Just as the door creaked open again, a presence entered the room. Calm, commanding.
Kazuki and Serena stayed seated as a tall man with black hair wearing a black short sleeve jacket, black jeans and cold red eyes stepped in.
"Hello, kids. I'm Diablo," he introduced, his voice smooth but firm. "I'll be your team leader and trainer from now on. Its nice to meet you all."
His eyes scanned the room until he noticed something off.
"There are supposed to be three of you. Where's the third—?"
Before he could finish, Alex flash-stepped behind him, leg raised mid-kick.
In a blur, Diablo leaned forward slightly—effortlessly dodging—and tapped Alex on the forehead with a single finger. The force sent Alex flying across the room, crashing into the wall with a loud thud.
Diablo sighed, brushing his jacket "This is going to be a long day.".
Kazuki and Serena looked at Alex with dissapointment and unease "I know this guy's an idiot, but now just proves he's an even bigger idiot.", Kazuki muttered to himself.
Diablo turned back to Kazuki and Serena. "Let's start with introductions."
Not long after, the group stood in a vast grassy field. The sun beamed down, casting long shadows over the training ground.
Diablo stood in front of them, arms in his pockets.
"Your mission is simple," he said. "Land a single hit on me. If you do, you pass."
Kazuki crossed his arms and muttered, "This guy isn't going to be easy..."
"Take your positions," Diablo ordered.
Alex stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. "I'm about to mop the floor with you."
Kazuki sighed. "Idiot. Who goes head first into an opponent like that?", Serena thought as well "He's either stronger than he looks, or he's overestimating himself.".
He and Serena moved to the sidelines.
"I just hope Alex doesn't make a fool of himself," Serena whispered.
Diablo faced Alex. "Are you ready?"
Alex grinned. "I was born ready."
He activated his Energy Fist technique, his aura glowing blue.
Kazuki frowned. "That's what he's going with? Really?", he said out
Ignoring the comment, Alex increased his energy "Energy fist, plus 20.", he called out the name of his technique.". His aura shifted from blue to green, and blasted out of his body, crackling with power.
Kazuki's eyes widened. "Wait... he pushed it up to plus twenty?"
Diablo smiled faintly, impressed. "Interesting."
Alex readied himself "Here i come!", and began flash-stepping rapidly around him, attacking from multiple directions and throwing powerful punches at rapid speeds. Diablo stayed completely calm, dodging each strike without breaking a sweat.
"I see what you're trying to do," Diablo said. "Good strategy."
Serena glanced at Kazuki. "Maybe we underestimated him?"
Kazuki stayed quiet, watching.
Alex kept the barrage of punches from multiple angles going, until he leapt into the air. "Time for Plan B," he muttered.
He teleported back to the ground and rushed into close combat. Diablo dodged with ease, eyes now closed.
"You're trickier than I thought. Not just that, but you're starting to impress me. Although you could use some more work.," Diablo said, weaving around Alex's blows.
Alex was starting to sweat. "He's not even trying... What now?", the boy thought.
He reached into his pocket and threw a dagger. Diablo tilted his head, dodging it—but the dagger suddenly transformed into Alex.
With a fierce yell, Alex went for a strike but Diablo was able to dodge. Alex kept on the relentless daggers strikes as fast as he could, he kept turning, kicking, flipping and striking, but non of that mattered. No matter the stunts Alex pulled off, Diablo kept avoiding them.
SMACK!
Diablo slapped him hard across the face, sending him flying into a nearby river with a splash.
Dusting his hands, Diablo turned to Kazuki and Serena. "Fighting him was pretty fun, but I got bored after a while.".
Suddenly, a purple beam shot through the air, crashing into Diablo from out of nowhere. The smoke cleared away, Diablo had nothing but a soft smirk on his face "Hm. Well what do we have here?", he muttered.
He saw Kazuki standing behind him, he turned to Kazuki, hands In his pockets and an interested smirk on his face "Lets see how well you do kid."
END OF CHAPTER.