Arriving back into the team, Ryu can see the ladies busy doing something crazy with their current capability. "I see, giving them a task to break their limits, huh."

"Oh, you know about this method?" wondered Rogue.

"Although it's the toughest form of training, the results that are being reaped from it was no joke."

"Yeah, but it also depends on their resolve, if their will's break before that... All of this then was for naught." Rogue can't help but to looks at the two ladies nervously. Meanwhile, hearing this statement, Ryu starts to take off his glances from the girls.

"They will pass this!"

"Did you know about their character already?"

"No, it's my intuition that told me so."

What Ryu knows for sure was that Ayano will do this thoroughly, and for Mizuha, he got a feeling that this girl willpower was not that shallow. Rogue can also somehow glimpse the amount of the determination those two girls have.

"You're done with your matter with Verdi?"

"Yes, but for Verdi, I prefer you can trust his training regiment to me. The results won't differ that much from the ladies."

"Sure, you probably have planed about it thoroughly, and it seems that guy already trusted you to handle it."

Seeing Verdi clinging by Ryu side like that, it's hard to not accept the request. Following that, Rogue then wears a smile on his face.

"Well, let's put aside those things."

Looking at Rogue expression, before long, Ryu also put the same appearances before nodding in acknowledgment. "Yeah, it's the promised time."

"Haha, you're quick to notice things."

"Isn't this spot good enough? Incidentally, how much you're planned to set your level on?"

"It is a level 5 veteran."

"Can you make it to level 8? I'm intended to train too, after all."

"Are you sure? Don't regret it later!" affirming the request, Rogue releases his seal a bit, making him a level 8 tier 1 veteran. Also, at the same moment, sensed that a battle between Ryu and Rogue about to commences itself, Mrs. Farroh instantly changed her focus from the other students toward Ryu. She wanted to know how far Ryu had grown compared to the last time he's up against Ryo.

'It seems he had hidden his power on the other day.'

If she thinks about it, it's not that Ryu's intending to hide it. It's just that he can't fight with his full capability, his opponent was already knocked up only in one move.

"Well, forget about that thing, now I get the opportunity to witness how high is that boy's true potential."

At the meantime, Ryu and Rogue are currently discussing with each other;

"How about the rule this time, Mr. Rogue?"

"Well, because this arena isn't the same as the one Hunter Association had. Getting hurt in here can lead to lethal things."

"You're right. Hmm..."

Both of them began to rub their chin, pondering about the problem at hand. After some seconds have passed, Ryu appears to get a sudden idea on his head as he points toward Rogue's right chest.

"How about we use that badge instead? Did you have another copy of it?"

"That's a good idea, Why can I miss this thing!"

Putting his fist on its palm, Rogue begins to scan his surrounding with his eyes. "Let's see... Verdi, can you do the initiation sign?"

"Leave it to me, sir."

Following that, Rogue gives out a copy of the badge to Ryu. The rule was simple, the one who destroys the opponent badge will wins. Taking a distance about 30-feet away from each other, both of them waits for the signal to come.

Ryu readied his dagger, while Rogue stance himself with his sword. Both were made from wood. Before long, the signal has comes from Verdi's mouth.

"BEGIN!"

Right after Verdi finished his shout, unlike their first sparring match, both of them instantly rushes toward each other. Ryu and Rogue didn't appear to coat their weapon with mana. Because if they do it, even wooden equipment can be as sharp as a normal one, thus making it dangerous. That's why there are seems to be an unconscious agreement between them about banning the usage of mana for a weapon.

""Quick Slash!""

Using the same technique for their greeting, both of the weapons started to clash at each other. But, because of the level difference, the recoil taken by Ryu appeared to be higher. Not leaving this opportunity go, Rogue instantly connects his attack with another technique.

"Cross Slash!"

It's another slash forming an 'X' shape. Feeling that the attack will lands if he doesn't do anything. Ryu immediately channels his mana to his feet. Thanks to that, it accelerates his speed, enabling him to dodge the attack by jumping a step back.

"Hmm, Quick-Steps didn't think you have that."

"I just barely reach the stats requirement to do so."

"Well, what a coincidence. I have it too!"

Following that, Rogue appears before Ryu in a blink of an eye and performs another Quick Slash. Luckily, fast on his feet. Ryu, without a second difference, spun around Rogue in order to dodge his attack. But, it still succeeds in grazing his arm slightly.

"Isn't that can be considered a foul play, charging so suddenly like that just after you finished your talks."

"Hh, that was one of my strategies you should've to learn it fro-!"

Didn't have a chance to finish his sentence, Rogue can see a wooden dagger abruptly appears before his right chest. Thanks to his strong battle intuition, Rogue body spontaneously dodge the attack just before it's arrived at its aim.

However, Ryu doesn't let his chance to lay waste like that. Giving up at his initial aim, he shifts his target into Rogue's unguarded chin. This second move successfully lands on its target, making Rogue groan in pain while retreating back with his Quick-Steps.

"I didn't think you can be this cunning."

"Say the person who initiates it first."

They're smiling at each other, apparently enjoying the current situation. The tension of it, a focus needed to stay alert at all times, and an ability to predict the movements their opponent will make in the next seconds. All of it seems to just burn their heart more. It feels like a sparring match between a two battle junkie.

"Hmm, but that's it. I won't leave any opening anymore!"

Rogue excited expression immediately turned into a focused one, and out of sudden, a burst of energy can be seen released from Rogue's body.

"An Aura, huh."

"Ohh, As I expected, you know this technique too."

"Yeah, channeling your mana to your whole body, thus empowering your physical stats. It's a unique skill available only to the veteran, but..."

Giving a pause on his explanation, Ryu throws a smirk toward Rogue.

"I doubt you have the mana to keep that thing going for a long run."

"It seems you've really seen through it, you're really not an ordinary boy."

"Come! It will be all or nothing!"

"Ease up, I will end it in a second!"

Reacting to Ryu provocation, Rogue instantly disappears from his place and materializes himself in front of Ryu. It's so fast that it can't be compared to the normal Quick-Steps.

Because of the main stats being empowered by mana, Rogue's body is now capable of using the upgraded version of Quick-Steps, and that's the Flash Steps! If a Quick-Steps movement can be seen by a naked eye. This one then needs an extreme focus to be able to perceive it.

"As I thought, he can pull this one!"

Cursing to himself pretty loudly, Ryu can only try to protect his badge with his left arm. In a second difference, sharp pain can be felt coming from his guarding hand.

"Fuck! I need to do something with that Flash Step of him."

Groaning in pain, Ryu swiftly falls into a focused state. He decided to totally rely on his intuition to dodge the upcoming attacks.

Doesn't have any intention to let his opponent go out of his reach, Rogue delivers his attack again. But, this time, Ryu can barely dodge the attack by using his Quick-Steps at perfect timing.

For now, this is the only way for him to win. He needs to keeps dodging until his opponent run out of mana. Rogue's also not a simple-minded person, he knows this fact very well, that's why he needs to end this fight soon. Rogue keeps barraging Ryu with his thrust attack aimed at Ryu badge's, but only for him to be able to dodge it in the nick of a second.

These events keep being repeated for about a minute. Sometimes, although Rogue can't land a hit on Ryu's badge, he can still graze his chest or torso. Thanks to this, Ryu's reaction time also began to decline, and he's forced to sacrifice his other body part to protect his badge from being broken.

After another minute has passed, Rogue finally had his mana depleted. His aura slowly fades away before disappearing completely. Simultaneously, as a consequence of using mana as a dopping for his body, when it's over, not only his mana is drained. His fatigue can also be felt increased by several-fold, and moving even an inch can be proven to be challenging.

This is the moment that Ryu has been waiting for, although he's also far from being okay. His body was being bruised all over the place because he required to protect his badge from being destroyed.

"I doubt you can move anymore."

"Hh, you're right, the backlash of using an aura is really great."

"But, thanks to that, I'm also being beaten pretty badly in here."

"I guess we're in the same state, how about we tie this one out?"

"What nonsense are you saying!? What's the purpose of this match then?"

Hearing the offer makes Ryu unconsciously give him a cold reply. Sensing that the other party was really pissed with the suggestion, Rogue starts to nods his head off.

"You're right, let's have the last clash, with our remaining energy."

"That's what I'm looking for!"

Staggeringly readied their stance, they're preparing to charges at the person in front of them with their last stamina.

Ryu readied his dagger.

Rogue stances himself with his sword.

Like it's a staged battle, they rush at each other at almost the same time. At the midway, Rogue brings his weapon close to his chest, guarding himself in case of the upcoming attack.

Sure enough, when they're close enough, Ryu suddenly appears before him. Using the remaining mana as his advantage, Ryu uses the Quick-Steps to close the distance in an instant and quickly thrust his dagger aimed at his opponent badge.

"Checkmate!"

"Are you sure about that!?"

Waiting for this exact moment, Rogue uses his remaining energy to tilt his body a bit and thrust his sword directed at Ryu's right chest.

"You think I won't expect you to do that?"

Ryu swiftly changes the direction of his dagger in the same course of Rogue movement. He's ignoring the sword aimed at him and prioritizing to hit Rogue's badge.

The match has turned into a race of who will reach the enemy badges first with their weapon.

Before long, the sound of a shattered glass can be heard echoing in the arena, Ryu who looks into his opponent's chest curled his mouth into a smirk.

"I won!"

However, it's not only Ryu that's currently smirking, his opponent, Rogue's, was also doing the same thing.

"Why don't you look at your chest?"

When Ryu looks at his chest, the badge that should have been in there can't be seen anymore. It's instead replaced with a wooden sword poking into his body.

"... So, in the end, it's a draw."

"Can't be so sure about that."

After saying their respective lines, both of them instantly lays down on the ground while gasping for breath. Unnoticed by them, the whole Division's attention is currently directed at them.

***

At the same time, when the fight about to commence. All of the Sub-Division activity has actually come to a halt.

Without any doubt, the reason for this was because they're interested in the duels. Especially for the students, even for fighting 4 vs. 1 facing their instructor, it still feels impossible for them to win against it. Then, how about Ryu, who's currently facing 1 on 1 against the strongest one available?

They initially thought that Ryu will not even last for a minute. But, not until they see that Ryu can also somehow stand on equal ground with his opponent. He even succeeds in landing a hit on Rogue chin.

"Hey, Mr. Pervert is really strong!"

Mizuha talks enthusiastically with Ayano in reaction to Ryu battle prowess.

"Yeah, though, there's also a chance that Mr. Rogue just holds back against him."

"But, I heard that Mr. Rogue currently set his level to a level 8 tier 1 veteran."

"Well, we can't see their real caliber yet, after all, it's still the start of the battle, they won't release their full capacity yet."

Just as when Ayano finished saying this, a sudden chill can be seen coming out from Rogue's body. It's the moment when he actives his aura.

After that, the battle speed just feels like being fast-forwarded. Ryu and Rogue began to moves at an extreme pace. For the instructor, they can see how's the match is going. But, for the students, they can even hardly tell the situation.

In their eyes, Rogue starts to disappear and re-appear before Ryu with every move he makes. And at the same time, Ryu also seems to moves very fast, albeit only for a second to dodges Rogue's attack.

Mrs. Farroh, who also sees this scene, is currently dumbfounded by it. Ryu's timing to dodge such an assault coming from Rogue is so precise, it's definitely not a small feat at all.

"Ryu... How can he be that strong!?"

"It's definitely not a fluke that he can gain the Hunter qualification at level 4 if he's that strong."

"I can't see how high he will reach in the future..."

Later, when the battle climaxed. The students and instructors can be seen gulping their throat down. They start to peel their eyes open, wanted to see who's destroyed the badge first.

However, outside of their expectation. The badge destroyed almost at the same time, thus making it hard to decide who has won the match. Still, it's a great match that can't be seen every day.

This match makes the students convinced that Ryu was really that strong. Just in the morning, he's regarded as the irregular who's perceived in a negative light. But, this match has completely flipped down these stereotypes.

The students now can unanimously agree that Ryu is the pride of their A-Division. Just by the looks of it, it's clear that Rogue didn't hold back at all. Yet, Ryu can still score a tie against that monster. If they're in Ryu positions, they're positive that they won't even hold for seconds.

Before long, the instructors, students, and Mrs. Farroh start to clap their hands as the match end. They're doing it spontaneously, it's difficult to not applaud after seeing such spectacle. Maybe they even want to pay if it means that they'll be able to see the match again.

Meanwhile, the actor of those events just noticed that they're being watched this entire time. While still laying on the ground, they've continued their talks. The first one to initiate was Ryu;

"Hmm? What happened?"

"Hh, it's likely that they're watching our battle."

"Ah... Though, it's frustrating that I didn't win that one."

"In a sense, if we fight on equal ground, it's my defeat."

"Well, I didn't ask for that in the first place. After all, it's clear who will win if we do that."

"Confident in your ability, huh."

"Of course!"

When Ryu said this, Rogue suddenly closes his eyes, reviewing the previous battle inside his mind. Soon, he leaks out a mouthful breath from his mouth.

"Ryu, your battle-sense is really terrifying."

"Never did I meet an individual who can dodge Flash-Steps attack using Quick-Steps if it's not purely coincidence."

"Yet, here you are, doing it solely relying on your intuition."

"Just for clarification, you're still 14 years old, right?"

Being asked those questions, Ryu can somehow understand Rogue's perspective. If he sees a 14 years old boy as strong as the current him, it surely will become difficult for him to swallow the fact. But, there's no way that he admits his time-rewinding experience. So, the only answer to that question was;

"Yes..."

"I see."

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, it's just cross my mind, that's all."

Talking about crossing its mind, Ryu suddenly thought about the mystery of his time-rewinding again.

'Hmm, wait. I'm sure that Ellaine is the one who sent me, for whatever reason.'

'But... Why it's when I'm in my 14?'

'Why I didn't start as the baby instead?'

'Also, why it's in the division room?'

'Did she want to trigger something?'

'But what?'

Every time he questions those things, not only he didn't get the answer, it ended up for more further questions being popped up on his head and leave him confused.

"Fuck... The deeper I think about it, the more headache I got instead..."

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't mind me, I'm just talking to myself."

"Hey, how long we intended to lay down like this?"

"I don't know, I'm too tired, might as well sleep in here."

Combined with his body fatigue and mental turmoil, Ryu can only give a spontaneous reply to the questions. In response, Rogue starts to laugh, thinking that Ryu's currently joking.

"You're surprisingly a humorous person, huh?"

"Maybe..."

"I see..."

Somehow, when he thinks about Ellaine. His focus always gets distracted. Because of this, Ryu unintentionally cut the conversation off, making it awkward between them. Before long, Ryu hops up from his position and makes his way toward the green-haired boy.

"Verdi, did you have your hunter gear already?"

"No, I haven't purchased it yet."

"Prepare your things then, buys a leather armor, and for a weapon, any is do."

"Still, brother..."

"What? Want me to lend you the money?"

"No, I already hold into it, but, actually what are you planned to do?"

"We're going to train in the Dungeon tonight!"

"EHHH!? Tonight!?"

Shocked by the sudden announcement, Verdi didn't know how to process it on his brain. He's still a level 6 novice, why his brother suddenly tells that they're going to train in the Dungeon?

"Yeah, so immediately prepare your gear. After all, training in the Dungeon is the most effective way to break your limits."

"But, I don't have the card yet."

"It's okay, I'll somehow bypass it."

"So we're going to enter illegally..."

"You can trust me, for now, please be quick on your feet."

Just like this, Verdi is made to leaves school early to pack his things to prepare for Dungeon's exploration. Meanwhile, Ryu's suddenly starts to practice alone in the arena. He feels the urge to get stronger quickly, ignoring his body fatigue and injury.

He had remembered his initial purpose, he feels like he doesn't have the liberty to stay relaxed. At least, not until the girl he loves approaches him.