Owari took a closer look at his new beast as he considered how to name it. It has pitch-black scales and the water affinity head has a sea blue scale on its head while the dark affinity head has a darker black scale on its head. He was having trouble thinking of a name because he didn’t want to give it a bad one. After all it was technically a legendary creature of sorts, though maybe not yet. He decided to leave it to his future self to deal with that problem and moved on.

Owari and Lance continued to look around, neither of them was satisfied with just this much. Now that they were in the amphibian habitat they would run into stuff even on the beach. For instance there was a large dog-sized frog staring at them currently. While looking at it his hydra started to send over a signal that it was hungry.

“Looks like this guy wants to eat the frog.” Owari pointed at the hydra with his thumb.

“Go ahead.” Lance was neither interested in taming nor fighting it.

Owari gave the hydra permission and soon it was shooting water bullets at the frog. The frog was surprisingly mobile, dodging each attack. It jumped left and right and closed in on the hydra as it fired bullet after bullet. However when it got in range and was about to retaliate the hydra spewed out black smoke made of dark affinity mana, obscuring the area. Next sounds of tearing and thuds rang out and by the time the smoke cleared the hydra had eaten the frog bone and all.

“Well that’s horrifying.” Lance said while sweating. He could only imagine what it would be like to be torn apart while completely blind.

“I think it’s clever.” Owari was pleased with his new find. He was even more pleased when he realized it was close to evolving and becoming gold rank. From this point on every time it evolved it would go up a stage. It would have three heads at low gold rank, four at mid, five at high, and then six at low platinum. It would finally reach low electrum when it had nine heads. After that it would slowly grow more powerful enhancing its regeneration and affinities as it evolved.

“Whatever you say.” Lance thought the hydra was quite scary, not because it was strong, it was more in regards to its methods.

The two continued to hunt with Owari feeding his hydra on occasion. It was while they were fighting some random salamander type creatures that had bothered them that something interesting happened. The salamanders scattered suddenly. Looking for the cause it was easy to see after a little looking. A large cow-sized turtle crawled its way out of the water. It seemed to be a snapping turtle.

“That’s a crusher turtle. It can bite a steel beam in half. Wonder what it’s doing here.” Owari looked at it curiously. It was normally found in smaller sizes in a river that snakes its way through the Griffon and Leviathan territories as well as a few other northern territories.

“I saw a few smaller ones on the beaches last time.” Lance said from the side.

“Must be a separate colony of the same species. I’ll have to note this down. You can take this one, it should be low gold rank at that size. Not sure why it's active during the colder months but then again it is starting to warm up lately.” It was slowly approaching spring but there was still a nip in the air.

“Whatever it is, today is its unlucky day.” Lance looked at the turtle with interest. It was looking at the two of them lazily, it clearly looked down on them. This was a fatal mistake.

Lance leaned forward and pointed his spear at the turtle. He stabbed his spear out sending a bolt of electricity into the turtle’s body. He had aimed for the head but the turtle tilted its head out of the way when it sensed danger. Unfortunately that wasn’t enough. It was seized by the paralyzing effect of the electricity.

Lance then pushed his foot lightly against the ground, however he shot forward at high speeds as if he was a bolt of lightning. He didn’t attack from the front and instead appeared at its side and stabbed into the lower part of its shell where it was softer. The turtle cried out as Lance’s spear pierced into it. He quickly removed his spear and backed off as the turtle dropped to the ground to protect its belly. It now knew it would never outspeed Lance and so went all out on defense.

Lance wasn’t bothered by this. He flashed forward and stabbed forward into its side, managing to pierce the harder shell, though not as easily, before pulling back. The turtle cried out again and turned to him quicker than one would expect. Then it opened its jaws and crunched down. A moment later the ground around Lance rose up and went to bite him. However he sidestepped this with his superior speed.

Lance rushed it while its mouth was closed and when he arrived he stabbed his spear out again, however this time it flashed blue and suddenly his spear was in and out of the turtle nearly a dozen times in a second. His arm speed had risen to a large degree, however Owair noted that the flash of blue was both lightning and water affinity. It was clear this was one of his techniques that put strain on his body.

The turtle screamed in pain and tried to bite Lance who had already moved out of range. Then he twirled his spear above his head and swung it down sending bolts of electricity to fly out and surround the turtle, successfully electrocuting it and causing it to stop moving for a brief period. It was in this instant that Lance rushed it and appeared beside its head. Then with a swift swing of his lightning cloaked spear the head of the turtle fell off while sizzling.

“Impressive.” Owari spoke from the side as Lance swung his spear to get rid of the numbness he felt.

“That thing had a hard body. My whole body is numb from the rebound.” Unlike Owari, Lance would use brute force to overcome the turtle's defense.

“You still beat it without injury.” Owari noted.

“Not any given by the enemy. But I shocked my body a bit due to overusing my lightning affinity.” Lance shook his shoulders to remove the last bits of discomfort.

“Why use such a dangerous mystic art? There are plenty more safe options.” Owari was curious, Lance would have access to all kinds of options given his importance.

“Truthfully, it’s because I’m not as talented as my station deserves. It’s easier to grow stronger with this mystic art at the cost of the danger. The only reason I was treated so well before was because I had a thunderbird. Now that I’ve reached gold rank I’m finally able to hold my head proud. Before a lot of people believed I was given too favorable of treatment.” Lance smiled as he remembered the looks on all his naysayer's faces after he reached gold rank.

“I get that. It’s like how I put myself in danger to pull out my potential.” Owari nodded in understanding.

“I knew you would.” Lance chuckled, if Owari didn’t understand then nobody would.

The two chatted a bit more as they hunted until night fell. They began their rotation for lookout and rested in shifts. The next day came and went by quickly. There wasn’t anything of note that happened save for the hydra eating all the leftover meat and slowly approaching evolution. It wasn’t until the day after that that something happened. While they were walking down the beach by an area they were unfamiliar with an enemy appeared unexpectedly. In fact both sides were shocked to see the other.

Coming from the water was a 10-meter long alligator. It was about half-submerged currently. What Lance and Owari didn’t know was that this was commonly seen as the alligator's territory. People tended to avoid it out of fear, and the agency in charge could never spare the gold-ranked expert to come clear it out. After all it did stick to this region and only ever ate those foolish enough to come over here.

“Mid gold rank.” Owari instantly identified the threat level. “This one is mine.” He smiled, he was in need of a challenge.

“If you need help just ask.” Lance stood off to the side with some worry.

The alligator was massive with deep blue scales and hide. It had massive legs with claws that looked like it could tear a car apart. It’s teeth were sharp and it looked like it could eat Owari in one bite. It also had thick ridges running down its back and tail. Owari chuckled and waited, as soon as he felt it’s hostility he rushed forward to gain the initiative.

As he rushed forward he used the phantom step to travel in an instant. However to his surprise the alligator had predicted his movement and swung one of its clawed hands at him. Owari ducked his body under the claws and jumped back in time to avoid a chomp from the alligator. The sheer force of its bite kicked up some wind. Owari rushed back in fearlessly as soon as he landed.

The alligator was still regaining its balance as Owari rushed in. He jumped up above the alligators mouth and swung his sword using the moth wing strike. However after going in a few centimeters it was stopped. Owari kicked off the alligator’s head and pulled out his sword in one motion. As he went through the air he reoriented himself. As soon as his foot touched the ground he jumped back just in time to avoid the rush of the alligator who was incredibly fast despite its size.

The alligator reached his previous position and swiped just as Owari managed to jump back. However he was given no room to breathe as the alligator launched itself forward trying to chomp him. Again he jumped back, but again he was given no chances. The other claw swiped at him at this moment. He ducked under it, however the alligator got its other leg back on the ground and launched itself forward once more.

Owari jumped as high as he could, getting out of the path of the alligator and getting room to breathe. As he fell though, the alligator looked up and opened its mouth in his path of descent. Owari threw his weight to one side while twisting his body to throw himself to one side dodging the bite that clamped down where he was about to fall. As he fell past the alligator’s mouth he used his new steel fang technique slicing straight through its tough hide and cutting out a few of its teeth.

He alligator flailed its head as Owari barely dodged it and threw himself back. It was unused to pain due to its tough hide so even this amount was driving it mad. Owari took this chance and rushed over and jumped above it preparing to slice into its back. However at this moment its back ridges glowed blue and suddenly electric arcs filled the air, some of which stuck Owari.

Owari swung his sword using his screeching wing to block some of the bolts, however some still arced around the attack and hit him sending him flying and rolling across the ground. He quickly rolled into a forward-facing position and used his sword and legs to kill his momentum. When he was done stopping the extent of his wounds became apparent. He had three electrical burns on his chest that had melted into the skin, as well as one on his right leg.

Despite this Owari showed no signs of stopping though as he rushed forward once again. As he approached the alligator finally regained it wits and swung its claw at him. Owari didn’t seem intent to dodge as he swung his sword. As he did he used the steel fang, however he had noticed this technique stimulated his metal, phantom, and dark affinities. So he infused the attack with dark mana which is known for its speed. Dark overtakes light as fast as light overtakes dark after all.

His sword flashed black and his speed increased by a level, his attack also left behind a black trail behind for a second that was just as sharp as the attack itself. He used this speed and the sharpness of the technique itself to cut into the alligator's wrist in a split second separating the hand from the leg in a mere moment causing blood to spray all over.

The next moment Owari spun around and sliced off the entire arm. The alligator lost balance and rolled onto its back. As an alligator it began to enter a death roll towards Owari likely hoping to crush him. However Owari jumped up and as the alligator passed by him he used the dark infused steel fang to remove its other front leg.

The alligator stopped thinking about Owari at this point and flailed around in pain. Owari didn’t rush and instead took a step back and entered a stance he was familiar with. He held his sword above his head vertically and took a deep breath. As he swung his sword down he used the screeching wing technique. However he used half of his mana in one strike to see how powerful he could make it.

The silver wind sliced straight through the alligator’s neck, not only that but it also left a massive scar across the ground reaching a dozen meters away from Owari. It was also a few meters deep. However he was tired after spending so much mana at one time. In the end though he was satisfied with the power of his technique. It was a good trump card.

“Remind me never to piss you off.” Lance chuckled nervously. “Is that how you always fight?”

“Of course, how else does one fight?” Owari swung his sword and replaced it into its sheath in one swift motion.

“Cautiously and like their life is at stake. You just rushed in and fought as though you didn’t fear death.” Lance had been watching from the side and saw Owari nearly die a number of times in that fight.

“I don’t fear death. I only fear stagnation. I’d rather risk my life and progress than cease to grow by always being careful.” Owari had to fight like that to draw out his potential after all.

“I see.” Lance couldn’t imagine fighting like that. With his life on a razors edge. He always put his safety first, hence why his movement technique is so fast. It’s an emergency button of sorts.

“Well that’s that. Let’s strip it. Alligator leather is very expensive. Especially a gold rank alligator.” Owari got to work along with Lance to cut open the gator.

Some of the meat was eaten by the two of them, meanwhile the rest was left to the hydra. Owari was elated when it entered a state of torpor and seemed to be in the process of evolving. That meant he would have an extra affinity to work with and a stronger magical beast. No matter which part of it you looked at it was a good thing.

After finishing up with their meal the two of them packed up and decided to call the expedition quits. They didn’t want to push their luck even more, not to mention Owari was injured. They made the half a day hike back and slept out that night. The next morning they started the day and a half drive home. They talked occasionally, but mostly Lance talked about music while Owari talked about books. The two of them found out quite a lot about one another’s preferences and hobbies during this time and they got back home before they knew it.

Owari went to sleep after getting home. When he woke up the next morning he went to see Noel and after that he headed to the Orion Tradecenter to sell the materials of the alligator and turtle. The money obtained from the turtle would obviously go to Lance. They were just taking advantage of Owari’s bonus to sales that he got. After he had updated his contract his bonus pay reached 15% extra. This was the maximum they offered to their contracted hunters, which was quite generous. He also updated his hunters license to mid gold rank so he wouldn’t forget. The receptionist was surprised to say the least seeing his rank. He was quite young after all.

After finishing with all that Owari wondered what to do next. As he was thinking and walking around at random he passed by the Sapphire Agency and had a thought. He made his way to Rebecca’s house even though it was earlier than normal. When he knocked on the door he was relieved he received an answer.

“What are you doing here so early?” She couldn’t help but ask. He was the last person she expected would show up.

“I needed to ask you where I could find Erica.” Owari stated his business immediately.

“She’s here currently, but why?” This was the first time Owari came to see Erica and not the other way around.

“Why is she here?” Owari was surprised, Rebecca hadn’t received babysitting duties for a while now.

“Whenever she isn’t being too cooperative they bring her to me because she at least responds to me. Though I’ve learned that you were right. Just because she isn’t responding doesn’t mean she isn’t listening.” Rebecca sighed. All those supposed teachers were useless.

“I wanted to bring her to see me practice so she can get a better idea of what martial arts and mystic arts were like. I also planned on giving her more instructions.” Owari didn’t comment on the failure of her teachers. After all that was what he was for.

“Alright, I’ll go tell her.” Rebecca went back and mere moments later Erica came running out.

“Hello teacher.” She greeted him with a light bow that would seem prim and proper had she not just bolted through the house like an excited child.

“It’s nice to see you again. So I take it you want to go?” Owari asked and received a nod in return. “Alright.” Like that Owari turned and left after telling Rebecca goodbye.

Erica and Owari silently walked through the streets with Erica trailing behind him. Eventually he reached a training hall, and even though it was expensive he still paid to use it since he didn’t want to bring Erica out into the wilderness yet. He also had a decent amount of money. He had received his yearly salary from the Orion Tradcenter for being partial owner of the mine. The hot spring resort wasn’t up yet so obviously there were no profits to justify paying him or any of the other board members with. Technically he was a member of the board of directors, one of the ones with the most sway as well. However he usually let them make the decisions. That was one reason he was a member, after all by taking up one of the positions without making decisions it left more power to the others.

Back to the present, Owari stepped into the training hall with Erica. There were a number of steel slabs of varying sizes as well as some dummies made of materials ranging from straw and wood, to resin and even rubbers. Owari had Erica sit over to one side as he walked over to a human-sized steel slab.

“I’m going to show you exactly what can be achieved with martial arts without the need to use mana.” Owari didn’t want her to get the idea in her head that mystic arts were the be all end all. When she heard this Erica was confused, she had always heard one’s mystic art trumped everything else. Owari swung his sword casually using the steel fang and split the steel slab like it was butter causing it to collapse into two pieces. “This is what martial arts is supposed to be.” Of course he could split an even larger piece of steel if he wanted but he was saving those.

Erica just sat there blinking for a moment. She had no idea how to react. She knew it was possible to cut steel or even harder materials. But she had not only never seen it, but she had also always heard of mystic arts that could do that. In order to try and motivate her the various people always told her about how this art could split steel, or how this one could cut even the toughest beast scales. However this was different. Not only had he not used a mystic art, it was so casual that he wasn’t even breathing hard.

“Do you see what I mean?” Owari asked, receiving an excited nod. He smiled in response to this. “Now let me show you what mystic arts are good for that can’t be achieved with martial arts. Cover your ears.” After seeing that she listened he swung his sword and used screeching wing to split another human-sized slab of steel in half. It was much more jagged but it was still split. “If you couldn’t tell, the difference in the smoothness means that the first attack I used is much sharper and can cut even tougher materials than this one.” Erica nodded seriously mentally noting everything he said. Although she didn’t realize it, being instructed personally by a mid gold-ranked hunter was a great honor for most people. Usually at this rank most hunters would range from mid-twenties to early forties. Mid gold ranks below the age of twenty were actually fairly rare outside of geniuses.

Owari then took this chance to practice his new technique. His dark affinity infused steel fang. He swung once again towards a much thicker slab and used the dark infused mana to enhance it. The sword smoothly cut through at rapid speeds that were almost impossible to see. It left a black trail behind it. This trail wasn’t merely for show, it was razor sharp, and as the metal slap slipped and began falling it was sliced again as it passed through the black trail.

“That was what happens when you infuse an already exceptional martial art with mana.” Owari dutifully instructed Erica.

“I understand.” She couldn’t help but get excited seeing the show before her. Most kids who strived to be a hunter or tamer would be the same.

Owari then considered what to do next. He contemplated on his hydras newest affinity. It was the wind affinity. He took up a stance and did a few practice swings and confirmed it reacted to his blade swarm stream. Then he faced a slab of steel and swung his sword using his normal blade swarm stream leaving dozens of scars on it and creating sparks that flew through the air.

“This is another technique of mine that I use for multiple opponents. This is the manaless version.” Owari informed her before walking over to another similar slab of steel.

He took the same stance and began to use the technique again, however this time he used the wind affinity mana to enhance it. The air resistance he felt dropped to zero allowing him to increase his speed exponentially without worrying about air resistance. On top of that the air around it turned into a blade making his sword even bigger and making the wounds he could inflict not only larger but sharper. If all that wasn’t enough it also used wind to increase his speed slightly overcoming the drag from gravity allowing him to increase his speed exponentially without any resistance holding it back.

His first few strikes left similar marks as the first manaless version, however as he kept swinging his speed increased rapidly and managed to leave more than twice the amount of marks in the same amount of time, and as he swung more the blade grew larger and sharper until he split the slab into two pieces and then three and finally four before it hit the ground.

“That’s the result of creating a martial art and then enhancing it with mana, and not the other way around.” Owari looked over to see the awed Erica. At first she thought it wasn’t too impressive, but by the end he was moving so fast she got dizzy. She couldn’t imagine how anyone could dodge that attack.

“Yes teacher.” With her newfound respect for Owari she was even more excited to learn from him.

Owari internally considered something and decided to call the wind technique jet stream, meanwhile the improved version of the steel fang will be called black steel fang. After deciding on the names of his new techniques he chuckled watching Erica’s excitement. She on the other hand had no idea what her teacher was thinking, how she would react if she did know would never be known to these two.

“You brought your practice sword, so let me see your stances and swings. I’ll help you correct any imperfections.” Owari then began guiding her not only on how to swing her sword but also on what stretches and exercises help with the flexibility she would need to swing her sword from certain angles in the future. He also helped her correct her breathing so she wouldn’t forget to breathe using the special techniques.

They spent a few hours in the training hall, occasionally Owari would show her his techniques and explain how he did them. He wanted to help her train the muscles she would need early. It was tough because they had different bodies and a lot of the concepts he was describing were quite advanced. But he figured if only a little stuck she could figure out the rest for herself one day. He didn’t want her to rely on his teaching to grow strong. He was just helping her make up for lost time.