...…

After some time, Shin finally opened his eyes. And the moment he did, those eyes suddenly shone with a blinding light which lit his surroundings. It was as if the night suddenly turned into day.

That shining light lasted for a few more moments, before it finally subdued. And once it did, Shin's body suddenly released a powerful Mental Energy. It was the same transparent Mental Energy that he originally had. But this time, the golden hue mixed on its surface became even more distinct. Moreover, it now had a jade color dancing along with that golden color.

That Mental Energy seemed to create a mini-storm in the surroundings as they revolved around Shin together with a strong gusting wind. This sight lasted for a few more moments, before everything finally calmed down.

Shin recalled all of the scattered Mental Energy around him before gathering them on his right hand. He observed the Mental Energy for a moment while muttering to himself. "Such a mysterious Mentalism Technique. To think that it can change the nature of my Mental Energy just by learning a little part of it."

He then compressed the Mental Energy and covered it on his hand before throwing a powerful punch front of him, sending the Mental Energy forward.

Swoosh!

Boom!

A couple of trees were suddenly taken down when the Mental Energy passed through them.

Shin became a little shocked after seeing the destructive power of his new Mental Energy. He looked at his fist while mumbling. "Interesting! Unlike the 'Four Symbol Scripture' of that Old Fatty which has a different style and usage – this 'Jade Kirin Scripture' focuses on a single thing, and that is to improve or enhance everything."

Then Shin fell into a deep thought as he thought about the identity of David's master. "Hmm-… I wonder how strong is Senior Brother's master. Given that she created such an amazing Mentalism Technique which can even rival that of Old Fatty's masterpiece, she is most likely an old monster with the same generation of that old monster."

"Well, I will know about her sooner or later so there is no point of thinking about it for now," he added while shrugging his shoulders.

After that, he looked at his surroundings when he suddenly realized that David was suddenly gone missing. "Eh!? And when the heck is this 'Senior Brother' of mine? He suddenly disappeared right after giving me this Mentalism Technique?"

He then clicked his tongue while having a dejected mood. "Tsk! The heck? Don't tell me that this 'third' master that I got is the same as those two old men."

He released a helpless sigh before looking at the time on his advance watch. And after seeing that it was almost four o'clock in the morning, Shin became a little shocked. "What!? It's almost time for my daily routine!? So, I ended up meditating for the whole night? Tch! I guess I need to do my morning training before going back."

Having that in mind, Shin immediately adjusted himself before starting his morning training routine. And since he still couldn't do any intense physical training, he just did some basic foundation training.

But right after that, Shin did some proper training for his Mentalism Techniques. As usual, he did some control training first before testing out some of his Mentalism Techniques. And after focusing on 'Four Symbol Scripture' for a moment, he immediately proceeded at studying the 'Jade Kirin Scripture'.

Even if this new Mentalism Technique was more of an auxiliary technique than a battle technique, Shin could still feel that the series of techniques under this 'Jade Kirin Scripture' was going to make his skill set even stronger.

What's more, he only studied the first chapter of this Mentalism Technique so he was still not sure if this 'Jade Kirin Scripture' also had some attacking methods under its set of techniques.

After a few hours of training, Shin finally did some mind and slow exercise for his cool down followed by another deep meditation. And when he reopened his eyes, Shin suddenly felt that his body was overflowing with a powerful life force. It was as if his body suddenly turned anew.

Feeling that, Shin couldn't help but shake his head a little while muttering. "Such a profound technique. To think that it could even affect my body to such a degree?"

After that, Shin went back to their home so that he could immediately take a bath since his body was already releasing some stinky smell.

...

The moment Shin went out of the bathroom, the first thing that he did was to look at the time. And when he saw that it was already six in the morning, he immediately opened a virtual screen on his advance watch to open the online forum of the game.

Given the in-game time and the schedule of the tournament, the last two matches would most likely end now – which also meant that the top 4 who would advance to the semifinals were finally determined.

After a couple of browsing, Shin finally found the topic that he was looking for.

Just like what he was expecting, 'Demon' really won his battle against his opponent. With that win, he became the greatest dark horse of the Shadow Ranking Cup. Though, the players were still thinking that he would lose the next match since he seemed to 'struggle' a lot in his last fight against 'Xena'.

On the other hand, the opponent that Demon had in the semifinals would be the 'Midnight Devil', Raptor.

After the epic battle between the 'Innocent Nightmare' and 'Midnight Devil', Raptor managed to emerge victorious. Their battle became one of the historic moments of the tournament; both of them had gone all-out just to prove who was the better assassin in between the two of them.

In this head-on clash, it was natural for the both of them to reveal most of their cards. Given that they possessed a strength that was almost on par with each other, it was natural for their match to be a very close battle.

Even though Raptor managed to be on top, the audiences who watched the whole fight still give Gairen a standing ovation for showing such an outstanding performance; as well as a battle that made all of them fully satisfied.

Shin studied the battle videos for a few more minutes before taking another look on the clock; it was already 8 o'clock in the morning.

According to a tournament announcement, the semi finals would take a little time due to some special arrangements. So, it was going to be held a couple of hours from now.

Given that, Shin still had some time to grab something for his breakfast. And while he was making his way towards the kitchen, he suddenly heard a commotion coming from his destination.

"Please young miss, put all of those down. We are going to make any food that you want."

"No! I want to make my own food! My big brother said that I need to be independent since he can't take care of me all the time. So, I need to make my own food."

"Oh~. Yes, we understand, young miss. It is really good to be an independent girl. But please let us do our jobs and serve you. Or else the young masters and our masters are going to scold us for neglecting our duties."

"But why is Big Bro Shin allowed to prepare his own food while I can't? That is unfair!"

"That is because-… young master Shin is-…"

Hearing that the maids didn't know how they were going to continue, Shin suddenly shook his head while smiling bitterly.

After that, he entered the kitchen and said to everyone. "Alright, all of you can make all of the other things that you need to do. I will take care of her for now."

Hearing his voice, every maid who was doing their best to convince little Laura, suddenly faced towards him and immediately greeted him with a respectful bow. "Good morning, young master Shin."

Shin smiled at them while nodding his head. After that, the maids started leaving the kitchen as per Shin's order.

And when all of them finally left, Shin walked towards Laura while smiling at her. "You little glutton. Why are you always making things difficult for them? At least let them go to their jobs."

"Hmph! Then why are you allowed to cook for your own while I am not?" said Laura with a pouting lips.

Shin patted her head and said. "Because I want to prepare my own food. And didn't you just call me a master chef? That is why I need to cook for myself. What kind of chef can't even prepare food for his own?"

Hearing that, Laura suddenly lowered her head while saying. "But I also want to become like you. I also want to prepare my own food. When I'm at home and big brother is not around yet, I usually prepare the food for the both of us. I just started to miss those times."

Understanding that she just started to miss her brother, Shin caress her head a little while saying. "Yep. You did a good job at that. But your brother entrusted you to us, for taking care of you."

"So, what do you think your big brother would say if he suddenly discovered that you are still doing all of these household chores even if you are in our care? He will get mad, right?"

Laura didn't reply at him and just continued to lower head while pouting her lips.

Reading her current mood, Shin immediately said. "You missed your big brother, right? Don't worry, you are going to meet him once the school year starts. And it is just a month, right? So, your Big Brother Arthur will take you to meet your big brother."

"Really!?" asked Laura in an excited tone while raising her head. But she suddenly paused for a moment when she realized something. "Just Big Bother Arthur? Then what about you, Big Bro Shin? You are not coming with us?"

Shin smiled at her and said. "Your big brother is currently training right now, isn't it? So, I also need to do some training so that I will not be left behind. That way, you will have strong big brothers who are going to protect you every time!"

But Laura seemed to buy his excuse and asked. "So, when will I meet you again?"

Shin maintained his smile and calmly answered. "At the time when you are going to meet your big brother! And we are going to have a big reunion party when we all meet again!"

But Laura was still in a dejected mood and muttered. "That means I can't have your tasty cooking for an entire month?"

Hearing that, Shin started laughing out loud while saying to her. "Heh! You, little glutton! That is what you are after all this time, right? Alright! Alright! Sit over there and watch me cook. I will prepare you something good."

Laura suddenly became energized the moment she heard and started jumping excitedly. "Really!? Yay!"

Seeing that, Shin shook his head a little while starting to prepare their breakfast. 'This little glutton is getting better at tricking people. Maybe I should warn Leo later.'

...…