It was a bright and sunny afternoon at Yildirim Woods. Gale and Reynard were training near a river bank under a tree. The streams flowed gently, and a couple of deer look at the duo curiously before trotting off.

As Clere had to leave early for a family meeting, Gale decided to use his free time to coach Reynard. Jacinta sat near the duo to observe how Gale was teaching Reynard.

“At this juncture, you've got the strength of a martial artist who trained for twenty years. That’s because when I unblocked your energy channels at Kasumi’s dojo, I also forced power into you using my [Turtle Breathing Technique]. However, I didn’t teach you how to control your power, and that’s why you’ve been breaking the bamboo swords in your kendo classes."

Reynard gulped as he heard those words from Gale. During kendo practice in school, he had so much power that he kept breaking the bamboo swords when he swung them. As Reynard defeated Anthony, a sophomore who picked on new trainees, the others nicknamed him ‘monster’ for his ridiculous strength.

"However, at your current level, you still lack the power to defeat Dylan, so I’m not teaching you how to control your strength yet."

Reynard didn’t like what he heard. “W-Why?! How can my strength be useful when I can’t control it?!”

Gale ignored Reynard entirely as though he didn’t hear what he said and continued to explain his training method.

“It’s unfortunate that the river banks are only at ankle-deep this time of the year. For this training method to be effective, we need the river banks to overflow like a flash flood.

But fret not! I have brought my [Five Elemental Wooden Sword] with me!”

Gale took out his wooden sword and swung playfully. Reynard and Jacinta were not impressed as they stared at the wooden sword.

Jacinta sneered. “What can a toy sword do for training?”

Gale went into the river and touched the water with his wooden sword. The waters were flowing gently as it cruised along the stream, but as soon as Gale’s sword touched the water, it started to shoot upwards like a spring!

"This toy can manipulate water, and amplify the magnitude and mass of it at will. I can create a tsunami in the middle of these woods if I want to.'

Both Jacinta and Reynard were wide-eyed at what they saw. Reynard began to worry as he realized the potential of the [Five Elemental Wooden Sword].

"Isn't it dangerous?! What if I'm swept away by the currents?"

Gale laughed at Reynard's anxiety. "Relax! I told you I could manipulate water, didn’t I? I will make sure you will be in one piece after the training is over.

There's no time to teach you the intricacies of manipulating [qi] or how to control your power. To beat Dylan, we need to focus on raw power instead.

I’m going further upstream and create a flood of water towards you. You are to stand your ground and push the water away with this stone sword.“

Gale sliced the stony ground, and a stone sword shot out from the ground! The stone sword was at least 1.5 meters, and its breath was a shoulder’s length. Reynard and Jacinta had never seen that before, and they started to tremble as they realized that the wooden sword was like a gift from the gods.

Reynard stuttered, “H-how?! How does your wooden sword work?!”

Gale ignored Reynard entirely and picked up the stone sword.

“Catch!”

Gale tossed the sword to Reynard and Reynard stretched out his hands to catch it. However, as soon as the stone sword landed on Reynard’s arms, Reynard immediately fell on the ground with the sword on him as it was too heavy!

Gale laughed at the spectacle of Reynard’s bewilderment. “This stone sword weighs 265 pounds. You probably have to use all your strength to wield it.

Let me repeat myself. Stand your ground in the middle of the river and use that stone sword to push the water away. The longer you can endure, the stronger you will become. I will demonstrate with my hands, and you will see how it works.”

Gale walked into the middle of the river and bit his thumb so that blood flowed onto the hilt of the [Five Elemental Wooden Sword] and its blade. Gale then accumulated his [qi] onto his wooden sword and tossed the sword in front of him about 50 feet away.

The [Five Elemental Wooden Sword] pierced the water and the ground, and suddenly a tsunami of water came crashing towards Gale! Before Reynard and Jacinta could even respond, Gale raised his hands and started smashing his palms into the wall of water. He was so fast with his palms, he couldn't even get wet on his body!

With a deep breath, Gale accumulated his [qi] in his "dantian" — a vital acupuncture point where large amounts of energy are stored on a human’s body. He quickly exhaled and forced all that [qi] onto his right palm as he made a powerful thrust.

As a result, the torrents of water was pushed back by the force of his palms and fell onto the [Five Elemental Wooden Sword] instead! Immediately, the waves of water ceased to flow from the wooden sword as the wooden sword fell and floated towards Gale.

“…So that’s your training, Reynard. It’s easier to train with a big heavy sword because my hands are small, so I had to punch rapidly with a lot of force to repel the water away. With that stone sword and its larger surface area, you’ll have a much easier time.”

Reynard and Jacinta’s mouths were wide-opened in amazement, and Reynard replied sheepishly, “I’ll have an ‘easier’ time? I don’t even know if I can swing this sword properly with its weight!”

“That’s the point. With the sword's weight and mass, it's easier to repel the water. All you need to do now is to make sure your arms are strong enough. The key is to use the [Turtle Breathing Technique] that I taught you to gather your strength.

Get on your feet now, and we’ll start immediately.”

Reynard pushed the stone sword away and picked himself up. He then uses both hands and grabbed the handle. The stone sword was very heavy, and Reynard immediately used the [Turtle Breathing Technique] to pick it up. A massive surge of energy began to circulate within Reynard, but he could only hold it sluggishly.

Gale moved about 200 feet upstream and waited for Reynard to stand in the middle of the river. The latter began to complain. "Can’t you teach me a skill or technique instead?"

"Your only route to victory is raw power because we have no time. You said it yourself that you lack control over your strength. It’s useless to teach you techniques if you can’t even execute it properly, so stop whining and get ready.

Swing your sword in the air to get used to it.“

Reynard swung his stone sword clumsily, and he almost dropped it.

“Keep swinging until you’re somewhat comfortable with that stone sword. You saw how much water this toy can produce, haven’t you?”

Reynard swung a dozen times and determined a rhythm of how he would repel the water. Once Gale saw that Reynard had prepared himself, he struck the surface of the river with the [Five Elemental Wooden Sword]. A massive torrent of water rushed towards Reynard, and the latter hurriedly swung his sword, but his legs gave way, and he fell over!

Gale immediately stopped the rushing water and waited for Reynard to pick himself up before asking a question.

“Tell me, why did you fall over?”

“I-I couldn’t keep my balance, and I fell.”

“So do you understand the objective of today’s training?”

Reynard realized that Gale wasn’t just training his arms to fight. His legs need as much training to withstand the force of the waves.

At that moment, Jacinta’s heart skipped a beat. She finally realized Gale wasn’t just someone who was gifted with extraordinary strength. She was shocked that Gale was a prodigy at fighting and the power he displayed at Kasumi’s house wasn’t a fluke.

Jacinta had always believed Gale was weak because he looked as if he couldn’t fight against a group of simple thugs when they tried to bully Reynard. Jacinta eventually stepped in to help when Gale took a blow from a metal bat on his head, and from then on that impression never left her heart.

Moreover, Jacinta could always overpower Gale at will when she pounced on him. Gale offered little to no resistance, which led her to believe that Gale was a brave but weak guy.

As Gale showed glimpses of his talents, Jacinta began to doubt her understanding of Gale and whether Hideki was the strongest first-year talent in Aelfsige Academy. After witnessing how Gale trained Reynard, Jacinta was finally convinced that Gale was much stronger than Hideki and she couldn’t hide her awe from her face.

“G-Gale! Y-You…!”

Gale momentarily turned his head and saw Jacinta’s shocked expression. He shrugged and focused his attention on Reynard instead.

Reynard was incredibly impressed as well, and he smiled to himself. He realized that Gale’s training methods were much more effective than Kasumi’s, and he was convinced that he would progress quickly under Gale’s tutelage.

Gale wasn’t sure why Reynard was smiling to himself, but he didn’t bother to ask.

“Get ready for the next wave, Reynard. We haven’t got all day.”

“Alright, I’m ready!”

Gale struck the water again, and this time, Reynard focused on standing firm against the waves. He held his breath as the waves crashed on to him, and he tried to swing his sword in the midst of the water.

It was about fifteen seconds before Reynard’s legs gave way again and he rolled backward. Gale then gave further instructions.

“The [Turtle Breathing Technique] is designed to hold large amounts of oxygen in your body. Use that to your advantage as you swing your sword in the water.

This is going to be your only training regime until you face Dylan in battle. Usually, this training takes around three months, but we will make do with whatever time we have.”

Reynard picked himself up again with his sword and stood in the middle of the river. Reynard tried to figure out how much [qi] should be diverted between his legs and his arms to swing his sword while withstanding the impact of the waves with his legs.

The training continued, and Reynard fell over twenty times before Gale called for a break. As the duo sat on the river bank with Jacinta, Reynard could feel his muscles twitching in his arms and legs. Gale took a bottle from his bag and tossed it to Reynard.

“I have some cream which helps you to relax your muscles when you apply it. After five minutes of rest, we will go for another twenty waves, and we will repeat this cycle for an hour daily at the minimum.

I prefer it to be two or three hours though.”

Reynard was horrified. “An hour daily?! I-I can’t even — “

“Yeah, you might have problems holding your pen tomorrow, and climbing stairs is going to be a massive chore for your legs, but once your body is used to it, your power and strength will grow exponentially.

Also, wear thick clothes for this training. The waters are extremely punishing, and you don’t want to tear your school uniform while you train.”

Reynard was horrified to hear about his training regime, and Gale couldn’t help giving a mischievous grin. Jacinta took mental notes in heart and determined to use Gale’s methods for her training.

----------

The next day, Reynard was walking with Jacinta in pain at school. Jacinta looked at Reynard sympathetically and asked, “are you alright, Reynard?”

“Yeah, I will be fine.”

Reynard climbed the stairs slowly while other students walked passed him quickly. Reynard’s muscles were very tensed, and the lactic acid was causing him a lot of agonies. Everyone in the vicinity observed Reynard’s suffering expression and wondered what happened to him, and Jacinta stood nearby to help him if he needed.

Reynard lamented. “Gale’s training is brutal.”

“I know. I wanted to join you but …”

No extra words were needed to be said. Both Reynard and Jacinta couldn’t argue about the effectiveness of the training, but they also know it was a world of hurt.

Hideki came by their side and wondered why they were progressing so slowly. When he heard how Reynard was training for Dylan’s challenge, Hideki gave a confident reply.

“Don’t worry about it! I will take care of it and stop Dylan from his ego trip.”

Jacinta and Reynard didn’t know why Hideki looked so confident, and Hideki went ahead to class first.

Gale was already in class as Reynard slowly entered the classroom with Jacinta. When Gale saw how Reynard frowned as he tried to sit down, he snickered, and Reynard became angry.

“Stop laughing! It’s not funny!”

“Oh, come on! You’re a guy, and you can take a bit of pain, right?”

It’s not ‘a bit of pain’, you stupid Gale.

The bell rang, and Miss Mia walked into the class with Kasumi. Kasumi immediately talked about the challenges that Dylan had set up.

“Class, the school approved Dylan’s unofficial challenges to some students. It will start next week, and a teacher will be assigned as a referee to the match.

No lethal weapons allowed, and the referee gets to call if a match is won or lost. The school hopes that it will be a teaser for the upcoming fighting competition within the school.

As it’s unofficial, there aren’t going to be prizes or rewards if you win. I guess the winner can only settle for bragging rights.”

Reynard tugged Gale on his sleeves, and Gale turned over. Sometimes, Reynard acted a little too feminine, and Gale wondered why. Reynard was petite, have big eyes, but no breasts. He would look like a girl if he cross-dressed though.

Reynard asked. “D-Do you think I will be ready for Dylan’s challenge? It’s only a week away!”

“I’m going to give you some energy enhancing pills to eat before and after you train. In one week, you will be able to wield the stone sword freely.

You might not be strong enough to deflect water effectively, but you should be more than ready to meet Dylan’s challenge.”

Reynard trusted Gale’s assessment implicitly and gave a brilliant smile in response.

----------

It was after school and Kasumi was packing her things in class when Miss Mia called out to her. “Kasumi, the teachers, and combat instructors are gathering for a meeting. Are you coming with me?”

“Sure, Miss Mia.”

As Kasumi and Miss Mia headed to the school’s meeting room together, eyes were looking upon Kasumi as her slender body, fair skin, big brown eyes, and a long flowing hair caught the attention of many teachers and students. Kasumi had no lack of suitors ever since she was twelve years old.

However, Kasumi always avoided guys who wanted to get to know her better. She wasn’t interested in dating unless the person impressed her enough to distract her from building her dojo.

Miss Mia had been teaching for ten years, and she admired Kasumi’s style, maturity, and person. Miss Mia didn’t understand why such a beautiful girl would prefer to be single.

“I saw Mr. Allan from the P.E. department the other day, and he mentioned he wanted to invite you out for a movie. Did you accept it?”

Allan Mckenzie was in charge of gym classes for students in general, and he was Class 1F’s combat instructor.

“Oh, I was busy with my house and dojo then. Somebody broke the ceiling, and I had to cancel my lessons for my students.”

The dojo was fixed for some time, as Gale dedicated himself to fix the problem which he created. However, Kasumi didn’t have a good excuse to reject Mr. Allan, so she used that to decline.

Miss Mia continued, “I see. You don’t seem interested in Mr. Allan though. Perhaps somebody else has captured your heart?”

Kasumi didn’t answer and blushed slightly. Miss Mia then nudged her to probe more.

“Who’s this person?”

“Well, it’s inconvenient to talk about him yet. We aren’t official, and we’re just exploring.”

“Tell me when it’s official, okay?”

Kasumi nodded, but she wondered how Miss Mia would respond if it were one of her students. Miss Mia would probably freak out.

As they entered the meeting room, all eyes were on Kasumi. She never failed to capture the attention of people everywhere she goes.

Victor Spectre, Class 1B’s combat instructor, came to Kasumi to initiate conversation. He was a skinny guy with spectacles. “Do you know why we have a teachers’ meeting?”

Kasumi shook her head. “No clue. Do you know something?”

“A hotshot combat guest instructor is coming next week! He’s double ‘A’ grade in combat skills, and that might be interesting.”

“Aren’t you double ‘A’ grade too, Victor?”

Victor’s ego was slightly inflated when Kasumi compared him with the incoming guest instructor at the same level.

“Of course I am. However, that man is famous — “

A lady in her mid-forties entered the room and chimed into the conversation.

“Famous for his ‘Iron Sand Palm’. It was said that he could break bones with just his fingers, and I heard he’s very close in becoming a triple ‘A’ grade fighter.”

The lady who injected the conversation was Principal Stella, as students call her. She wears regular office clothes usually, with long hair and black eyes. Stella wasn’t ugly nor very pretty, but her charms as a ‘no-nonsense’ person and yet compassionate approach earned her respect throughout Aelfsige Academy.

Stella walked into the head of the room and sat, and all the other teachers sat.

“As all of you heard from Victor, a guest instructor is coming to visit us from the World Alliance. His name is Valerian Tze. He’s been touring academies, and I’m not sure what’s his agenda is, but let’s give us our best welcome to him from Aelfsige Academy when he arrives.

I organized this meeting for two things. One, we need a referee for Dylan’s unofficial tournament. Two, we need somebody to welcome our guest.”

Allan was not looking pleased when he heard about having a referee for Dylan’s unofficial duels, and he voiced his disgust.

“Why do we need to adhere to Dylan’s request?! He’s just a new student! Isn’t it shameless to start challenging other students when we are going to have our competition later this year?”

Stella took a glance at Allan before looking straight. She was aware of Allan’s concerns, but a student’s challenge was within their rights in the students' handbook. It was introduced by the World Alliance to foster a competitive spirit, but students rarely use it since it can be considered rude.

“It’s not a request we can deny. Dylan has significant backing, and if we don’t allow him to have his duels, we will have problems with the government later.

Kasumi’s brother, Hideki Mizushima, is participating in this duel. Hence, I would like Kasumi to watch the match, while the rest of you can volunteer to either play host or be a referee.”

Victor’s hand shot up faster than Allan, and he declared, “I can be a referee!” As Kasumi’s brother was going to be competing, he wanted opportunities to interact with Kasumi.

Allan clicked his tongue in disgust because he knew what was Victor after.

Stella continued. “Since a combat instructor is going to be a referee, we should get one of our academic teachers to host our guest.

Miss Mia, would you like to take up that task?”

Miss Mia had no complaints, and she nodded.

“Alright, the rest of the teachers and combat instructors, we are going to be serving our students and managing traffic at our battle arena. I have asked Mr. Allan in the planning of the event, and he drafted our roles and responsibilities for the duels. I approved his plans, so look through your email and let us know if you have any questions.

This may be a simple duel between students, but we need to make sure everything is safe and orderly.”

Everyone gave the nod in reply and Stella promptly dismissed the meeting. Kasumi wondered how her brother was doing in preparation for his duel.

----------

Hideki arrived at a high-rise building after school after Hunter and Cindy gave him instructions to visit the SPAW branch in Aelfsige City. After speaking to the receptionist at the lobby, he took an elevator to the sixty-seventh floor.

As the elevator reached its destination, Hideki saw a bespectacled lady dressed in a lab coat waiting at the doors with a tablet.

“You must be Hideki. I’m Emma Strugel, assistant head scientist of the Magic And Psychic Research, short for M.A.P.R, from the World Alliance. You’re here for your basic soldier serum, I heard?”

Hideki was a lost for words as he saw a vast laboratory in the middle of a multi-level complex. The laboratory was three levels high, with various holographs of human anatomy displayed in the middle of the room. Emma traced Hideki’s line of sight and realized he was awestruck at what he was seeing.

“We specialize in training and boosting a human’s body with scientific research. This is one of our smaller labs around the world.

Let’s get going, and I’m going to brief you about the injection you’re about to take later.”

Hideki followed Emma and Emma led him to a patient’s ward. Emma took out her tablet and started to look through Hideki’s records with SPAW.

“Before we begin, it’s stated here that you’re a level 1 volunteer of SPAW. Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. You are eligible for the basic soldier serum for level 1. Lie down on the bed, and we are going to inject you with — ”

Hideki interrupted Emma to ask about the basic soldier serum because Hunter and Cindy didn’t give him any hint that he was going to take an injection.

“Wait a minute! What’s this basic soldier serum?! What are you injecting me with?“

“It’s an initial power boost for humans. Your cells will grow stronger, muscle mass will increase by 1.5 times, and if you’ve been practicing [qi] meditation, it will boost your [qi] by two folds.”

Hideki was new to these injections and had massive doubts about what he heard, so he quickly asked, “are there any side effects?!”

“No. Instead, you might live longer as a result of the serum since your cells have been strengthened.”

Hideki couldn’t believe how easy it was to increase his strength, and Emma noticed his wary expression as she looked with the corner of her eyes.

“It’s only a basic soldier serum, where we give our trainees a taste of what science can do to improve your strength. This sort of improvements isn’t exactly impressive in my estimation. Think of it as vitamins and minerals for your body.”

“If so, why don’t you make this serum publicly available for everyone? Something that can boost my strength by two folds with a single injection is nothing short of a miracle drug!”

Emma was getting irritated by Hideki, and she shot back. “Because it’s expensive! One shot cost at least 185,000 dollars and how can you fill the streets with this serum?! Besides, it’s only a one-time boost. Additional dosages will only cause harm instead.”

Hideki still looked unconvinced, and Emma showed the serum’s report for him to read on her tablet. As Hideki read it, he learned that they have tested over 144,000 soldiers and none of them had any side effect. They lived healthy lives which were validated by governing medical boards all over the world.

Emma continued to explain the medical procedures which Hideki was about to undertake. “As long as you don’t overdose on this serum, your life will not be in danger. Also, we will conduct a combat test to check how much you’ve grown from the injection.”

“Wait! Shouldn’t you test my strength first, take the injection and then test again? How would you know if the serum has taken effect if you do not test me before the injection?”

“There isn’t a need. Hunter gave us a lot of information about you, so we know your level of strength. We are well aware of your capabilities at this point.

Now, we haven’t got all day! Let’s hurry up with the injection!”

Hideki realized that Hunter was secretly following him all this while! Hunter was no ordinary agent, and he made a mental note of being more careful around him.

Emma led Hideki to a patient’s ward, and then made Hideki lie down on a bed. Without saying another word, she pulled chains and straps and began binding Hideki’s limbs at the corners of the bed.

Hideki didn’t like what he was seeing, and so he asked. “…What’s the purpose of strapping me to the bed?”

Emma didn’t stop and continued to tie Hideki up. “You can call this a side effect if you want. Your whole body will experience pain as your cells will be forced to grow due to the basic soldier serum’s effect.

We don’t want you run havoc and break things while you struggle in pain, so tying you up is the easiest way.”

Once Hideki was firmly chained onto the bed, Emma took out a huge syringe with a needle with an unknown blueish substance within. She removed the air bubbles within, used an alcohol wipe on Hideki’s vein and immediately injected the basic soldier serum into Hideki. She was so fast that Hideki didn’t have time to react and protest.

Hideki was filled with horror as he didn’t understand what was going on. All he could do was to wait for the serum to take effect.

At first, nothing to seemed to happen for the first ten seconds. After that, Hideki could feel sharp pains on his chest and around his heart, and it became so excruciating, he started screaming and jerking violently on the bed! However, the chains and straps held him down so he couldn’t move. Emma took a set of earplugs and used it to prevent herself hearing Hideki’s scream.

Hideki’s veins popped up as he struggled in vain, and as moments went by, Hideki’s muscle mass grew visibly under Emma’s observation. After five minutes, the pain started to subside, and Emma noticed that Hideki looked stronger physically with his enlarged muscles on his torso, arms, and legs.

Emma checked her watch after ten minutes and noticed that Hideki was no longer struggling, but beads of sweat were on every part of his body. Sweat drenched the bed, and Emma removed the chains from Hideki promptly once she saw Hideki had calmed down.

“Take about fifteen minutes to rest. There’s water here so hydrate yourself. Once you’re done, head to Room 607 for a combat test.”

Emma left Hideki in the ward, and the latter wondered to himself what had happened to him.

----------

In Room 607, Hideki found himself staring at a robot that was twice a human’s mass. It had two sensors on the head that looked like eyes, no nose and mouth, but it had arms and legs. It had gloves on the end of his arms, and it looked like a robot made for boxing.

Emma was in a control room with other scientists, and the room overlooked the battleground that Hideki and the robot were standing on.

“Hideki, whenever you’re ready, give us a thumbs up and we will commence the fight.”

Hideki frowned and asked Emma, “I’m not given any weapons?! I’m a swordsman!”

“We are confident you should be able to take on our robot with your bare fists after your basic soldier serum injection. Fight with that robot, and you will see for yourself.”

Hideki rarely fought in unarmed combat, even though he knew the basics of it, and he desperately wanted a sword. However, all he could do was to follow Emma’s instructions, so Hideki guarded his face with his arms like a boxer and gave a thumbs up to indicate he was ready to fight.

In an instant, the robot’s eyes glowed, and it dashed towards Hideki. The robot was moving very fast, but Hideki was surprised that he could track every movement of the robot with ease.

“My senses have been improved! I thought the serum only boosts physical power!”

The robot tried to punch Hideki, but he dodged easily. It threw another punch and Hideki avoided again without breaking a sweat. Hideki then counterpunched the robot on its body, and to his surprise, his fist sank into the steel and created a dent before the robot crashed onto the wall behind him. Hideki was awestruck with his new power as he looked at his hands.

“A-Amazing! I can’t believe I have this much power!”

Emma read the damage report from the robot. Hideki caused a twenty-five percent damage on the robot’s body which had reinforced steel. If Hideki had fought before he had the serum, he wouldn’t have created any dent, and the damage would be less than five percent.

Emma then spoke to Hideki from the control room.

“That’s pretty much it. Given enough time, you could destroy the robot with your fists, but we don’t want you to do that.

You were initially ‘D’ ranked, and with the basic soldier serum, you’re now ‘C’ ranked in strength. Hunter and Cindy want you to be at ‘A’ ranked, so come back two more times and we will inject ‘basic soldier plus’, and the ‘basic power serum’ into you. It takes 24 hours for the serum to adapt in your body, so you can only take a new serum tomorrow, and subsequently the day after.”

Hideki couldn’t believe such an easy way to grow strength was possible.

“With injections, I can become an ‘A’ ranked fighter instantaneously?! What's the point of training then?”

Emma replied. “The reason why you’re selected for the SPAW volunteer program was that Hunter saw that you were compatible with our serums when he brought your blood sample to us for testing. Not everyone is compatible with our serums.

Besides, level 1 volunteers are only allowed to be injected with the basic soldier serum. However, Hunter and Cindy want you at 'A' rank, so we made concessions for you.

Bear this in mind though. These serums are only a one-time boost of your current strength. There are limits to how much we can boost your power by injections, and after the basic soldier serum, every subsequent injection carries risks with side-effects. As a volunteer, you have the right to refuse the injections if you deem it too risky for you.

Serums can only give you power and increase the sensitivity of your senses, but your actual battle capability is still at ‘C’ ranked. You’ll need to get used to your newfound power and gain fighting experience before you’re ready to be a SPAW operative.”

Hideki couldn’t help but rejoice in his heart! There was no way anyone could increase that much strength on their own in such a short span of time, and he felt fortunate to have been scouted by Hunter and Cindy.

Or so Hideki thought. At that moment, Reynard sneezed.